JP6221661B2 - Inspection device, inspection system, inspection method, and printing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus, an inspection system and an inspection method for inspecting a printed image, and a printing system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a printing system, production printing that constructs a workflow system that performs management from creation of print data to distribution of printed matter is known. In production printing, printing speed is increased, job management and print data management are performed efficiently, and a large amount of printing can be performed in a short time.

  In production printing, there is a need to perform some kind of inspection on the print output of a printer. A print inspection apparatus for responding to this requirement is known. The print inspection apparatus reads the print output of the printer with an image taken by a camera, a line sensor of a scanner, or the like, and inspects whether printing is normally performed from the read result.

  In this print inspection apparatus, in particular, the print quality inspection is performed by comparing an inspection image obtained by reading with a RIP (Raster Image Processor) process of original image data prepared by a user, and a master image assuming printing and reading. Often. For example, the print inspection apparatus compares the read image with the master image to obtain a difference between the master image and the read image, and compares the difference with a threshold value to determine whether the print output includes a defect. .

  When the print inspection apparatus detects an image including a defect, that is, a print output, it needs to notify the user to that effect, but it is not desirable to interrupt the inspection process. A print inspection apparatus that interrupts inspection processing when notifying a user of detection of a defective image, particularly in in-line inspection, also interrupts the print processing when the inspection processing is interrupted. In this case, it is necessary for the user to check each time a defect is detected and restart the printing process.

  To cope with this problem, there is already known a method for changing the discharge destination according to the defect level when an image including a defect is detected so that the user can easily identify the defective image after printing is completed. It has been. Patent Document 1 describes a configuration in which the print quality is classified into a plurality of classes, and the printed paper is changed for each class. According to the configuration of Patent Document 1, since the printed material is sorted for each print quality, a defect image in the printed material can be easily specified.

  However, the method of changing the paper discharge destination according to the level of the defect detected from the image of the printed material is when the detected defect is determined to be an acceptable defect as a result of the final confirmation of the printed material by the user. There is a problem in that it is necessary to rearrange the printed materials again, which causes extra time for the user. This problem cannot be solved even in Patent Document 1 described above.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to specify a defect image in print output by a simpler procedure.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention includes an identification information acquisition unit that acquires identification information for identifying a printed matter for each printing unit, and a detection unit that detects a defect of the printed matter for each printing unit. Based on the storage unit that stores the detection result of the detection unit in association with the identification information for each printing unit, and the detection result and the identification information stored in the storage unit, the preceding and following defects are detected for one printing unit. And a defect determination result processing unit that obtains defect position information indicating the position of each printing unit for each printing unit.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that a defect image in print output can be specified by a simpler procedure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating more specifically a configuration example of the printer and the inspection apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the printer according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining functions of the printer according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of job management data according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram for explaining functions of the inspection apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the sheet correction information according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of defect image position information corresponding to the target print paper according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a defect image position information table according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method for determining a print sheet including a defect image according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of a barcode reading apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram for explaining functions of the barcode reading apparatus according to the embodiment.

  Exemplary embodiments of an inspection apparatus, an inspection system and an inspection method, and a printing system will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Printing system according to the embodiment)
FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. In FIG. 1, the printing system 1 includes a printer 101, an inspection device 103, and a stacker 104. For example, when the printer 101 receives an execution instruction for print information (referred to as a print job) including a print image supplied from the outside, for example, by a user operation on the operation unit 102, the printer 101 executes print processing according to the content of the print job. . The print job is not limited to be supplied from the outside, but may be stored in a storage unit in the printer 101.

  Here, the print image included in the print job is image data based on a raster image generated by a RIP (Raster Image Processor). The image data generated by this RIP is hereinafter referred to as RIP image data. The print job may include RIP image data generated by RIP in advance, or may include information for generating RIP image data. In this case, the printer 101 generates RIP image data based on the information included in the print job.

  The printer 101 acquires a sheet as a print medium from the sheet feeding unit 105 by executing a printing process, and conveys the sheet in a direction indicated by an arrow along a path indicated by a dotted line in the drawing. The photosensitive drums 113, 114, 115, and 116 superimpose toner images of K (black), C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y (yellow) on the intermediate transfer belt 111, respectively. Form. The toner image formed on the intermediate transfer belt 111 is transferred onto the conveyed paper by the transfer roller 112. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred is fixed on the sheet by the fixing roller 117. The printed paper on which the toner image is fixed is hereinafter referred to as printing paper.

  In the case of single-sided printing, the printing paper is discharged as it is and supplied to the inspection device 103. In the case of double-sided printing, the printing paper is conveyed with its front and back reversed by a reversing path 118, and the toner image is transferred and fixed on the opposite side of the surface on which printing has been performed first. The printed paper is discharged and supplied to the inspection device 103.

  The inspection device 103 inspects the print image of the printing paper output from the printer 101. The inspection apparatus 103 conveys the printing paper output and supplied from the printer 101 along the path indicated by the dotted line in the drawing in the direction indicated by the arrow in the drawing, and reads the images on both sides by the reading devices 131 and 132. Eject the paper. The reading devices 131 and 132 use an optical sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and a light source, for example, and receive reflected light obtained by reflecting the light emitted from the light source by the printing paper by the CCD and convert it into an electrical signal. Read the image on the print paper. The inspection device 103 determines, for each printing paper, whether or not there is a printing defect by the printer 101 based on the images read from the printing paper by the reading devices 131 and 132.

  The inspection apparatus 103 is provided with an operation unit 133 that receives user operations. The operation unit 133 is not limited to being provided in the inspection apparatus 103. For example, the operation unit 133 may include the function of the operation unit of the inspection apparatus 103 with respect to the operation unit 102 of the printer 101, or from a computer connected via a network or the like. The inspection apparatus 103 can also be operated.

  The stacker 104 stacks the printing paper discharged from the inspection apparatus 103 on the tray 141.

  In the printing system 1 according to the embodiment, the RIP image is data in which each color of CMYK is 1 bit (binary) and has a resolution of 600 dpi (dot per inch). In addition, it is assumed that the read images output from the reading devices 131 and 132 have an RGB bit depth of 8 bits and a resolution of 200 dpi.

  FIG. 2 shows more specific configuration examples of the printer 101 and the inspection apparatus 103 shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, a printer 101 includes a system control unit 201, a user I / F (interface) unit 202, a network I / F unit 203, an external I / F unit 204, a storage unit 205, and a mechanism control unit 206. A DFE I / F unit 207, an image processing control unit 208, and a printing control unit 209.

  The inspection apparatus 103 includes a system control unit 301, a user I / F unit 302, a network I / F unit 303, an external I / F unit 304, a storage unit 305, a mechanism control unit 306, and a print image. A reading unit 307, a master image generation unit 308, and a defect determination unit 309 are included. The printer 101 and the inspection apparatus 103 are connected to each other via a cable, a connector, or the like so as to communicate with each other.

  First, the printer 101 will be described. A system control unit 201 controls the overall operation of the printer 101. For example, the system control unit 201 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), and operates using the RAM as a work memory according to a program stored in advance in the ROM. Then, commands and various data are exchanged with each unit of the printer 101 to control the operation of each unit.

  The storage unit 205 includes a hard disk drive, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (flash memory), and the like, and stores data supplied from the system control unit 201 in a nonvolatile manner. A program for operating the CPU in the system control unit 201 may be stored in the storage unit 205.

  The user I / F unit 202 is an interface for connection between the system control unit 201 and the operation unit 102. The network I / F unit 203 is an interface for connecting the system control unit 201 to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The external I / F unit 204 is an interface for communicating with an external device. The DFE I / F unit 207 is an interface for RIP image transfer with an image generation controller such as a DFE (Digital Front End Processor) connected to the outside of the printer 101.

  The mechanism control unit 206 controls the operation of each mechanism of the printer 101 relating to paper conveyance in the printer 101, toner image formation and transfer processes, and the like according to instructions from the system control unit 201. The image processing control unit 208 controls image processing on the print image transferred by the mechanism control unit 206 in accordance with a command from the system control unit 201. The printing control unit 209 controls image formation on the print medium in accordance with an instruction from the system control unit 201.

  Next, the inspection apparatus 103 will be described. The system control unit 301 controls the overall operation of the inspection apparatus 103. For example, the system control unit 301 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The system control unit 301 operates using the RAM as a work memory according to a program stored in advance in the ROM, and sends commands and various data to and from each unit of the inspection apparatus 103. To control the operation of each unit.

  The storage unit 305 includes a hard disk drive, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory, and the like, and stores data supplied from the system control unit 301 in a nonvolatile manner. A program for operating the CPU in the system control unit 301 may be stored in the storage unit 305.

  The user I / F unit 302 is an interface for connection between the system control unit 301 and the operation unit 133. A network I / F unit 303 is an interface for connecting the system control unit 301 to a network such as a LAN. The external I / F unit 304 is an interface for performing communication with an external device. For example, the inspection apparatus 103 communicates with the external I / F unit 204 of the printer 101 through the external I / F unit 304, and exchanges job management data and inspection result data described later with the printer 101. .

  A mechanism control unit 306 controls a mechanism operation in the inspection apparatus 103 such as paper conveyance in accordance with a command from the system control unit 301. The print image reading unit 307 reads images on both sides of the conveyed printing paper using the reading devices 131 and 132, and generates an inspection target image. The generated inspection target image is supplied to the system control unit 301.

  The master image generation unit 308 generates a master image that serves as a reference for inspecting an image on printing paper. For example, the master image generation unit 308 communicates with the system control unit 201 of the printer 101 via the external I / F unit 304, and requests the RIP image based on the print job from the image processing control unit 208. The master image generation unit 308 generates a master image based on the RIP image transmitted from the printer 101 in response to this request.

  The defect determination unit 309 compares the master image generated by the master image generation unit 308 with the inspection target image generated by the print image reading unit 307 and determines whether there is a defect in the print output of the printer 101.

  Next, an example of the operation of the printer 101 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the printer 101. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functions of the printer 101. In FIG. 4, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to FIG. 2, and detailed description is omitted.

  4, the system control unit 201 includes a system control unit internal storage unit 251, a mechanism control information generation unit 252, a job management data extraction unit 253, a RIP image data extraction unit 254, and an identification image generation unit 255. . The mechanism control information generation unit 252, job management data extraction unit 253, RIP image data extraction unit 254, and identification image generation unit 255 execute a printer control program stored in advance in the ROM by the CPU of the system control unit 201, for example. As a result, it is formed on the RAM which is the main storage device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each of these units may be configured by independent hardware.

  The printer control program may be stored in advance in the ROM or the storage unit 205, or may be acquired from the network I / F unit 203 via an external network and installed in the printer 101. Further, the printer control program may be provided from a recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disk) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).

  In FIG. 3, in step S <b> 301, when the system control unit 201 is instructed to execute a print job by a user operation on the operation unit 102, for example, the system control unit 201 stores print job data acquired via the DFE I / F unit 207 in the system control unit. Store in the storage unit 251. When the print job data is stored in the storage unit 205 in advance, the system control unit 201 may acquire the print job data from the storage unit 205.

  In the next step S <b> 302, the system control unit 201 issues a print instruction to the mechanism control unit 206 by the mechanism control information generation unit 252. In the next step S303, the system control unit 201 causes the job management data extraction unit 253 to extract job management data from the print job data stored in the system control unit storage unit 251. Then, the system control unit 201 transmits the extracted job management data to the inspection apparatus 103 via the external I / F unit 204.

  FIG. 5 shows an exemplary configuration of job management data according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the job management data includes page identification information, printing surface information, paper information, paper size, and post-processor information as parameters.

  The page identification information is an identification number of the print image. The page identification information is, for example, a value acquired by the system control unit 301 by adding one for each page output from the time of power-on. Here, a page is a printing unit in the printer 101. For example, when a sheet used for printing is a cut sheet, the page corresponds to one side of one sheet. Therefore, the job management data is data updated for each page.

  The print surface information indicates, for example, whether the image on the upper surface of the paper at the time when the print paper that is the printed paper is supplied to the inspection apparatus 103 is an image on the upper surface or the lower surface in printing. The paper information indicates the paper type, and the paper size indicates the paper size. The post-processor information is information used by devices connected after the inspection device 103.

  Returning to FIG. 3, in step S304, the system control unit 201 extracts RIP image data from the print job data from the RIP image data extraction unit 254, and transmits the extracted RIP image data to the image processing control unit 208. .

  Here, when extracting the RIP image data from the print job data in step S304, the RIP image data extracting unit 254 extracts the page identification information from the print job data, and sends the extracted page identification information to the identification image generating unit 255. Supply. The identification image generation unit 255 generates an identification image corresponding to the supplied page identification information. For example, the identification image generation unit 255 encodes page identification information into barcode information, and generates a barcode image as the identification image. Not limited to this, the identification image generation unit 255 may generate a matrix type two-dimensional code as an identification image based on the page identification information, or may generate another type of identification image.

  The identification image generation unit 255 passes the generated identification image data to the RIP image data extraction unit 254. The RIP image data extraction unit 254 combines the identification image data with the RIP image data extracted from the print job data so that the identification image based on the identification image data is printed on the same surface as the image based on the RIP image data. . The RIP image data extraction unit 254 combines the identification image data with the RIP image data so that the identification image data is printed at a position where an image printed by the RIP image data is not formed, such as any one of the four corners of the print image.

  Note that it is possible to select whether or not the identification image is added to the image of the RIP image data according to a setting by the user via the user I / F unit 202, for example.

  The mechanism control unit 206 transmits an image signal output instruction to the printing control unit 209 in response to a print instruction from the system control unit 201. The printing control unit 209 transmits an image data output instruction to the image processing control unit 208 in response to the image signal output instruction transmitted from the mechanism control unit 206.

  In accordance with the image data output instruction transmitted from the printing control unit 209, the image processing control unit 208 prints the RIP image data combined with the identification image supplied from the RIP image data extraction unit 254 to a print image suitable for printing. Perform conversion processing to convert data. The image processing control unit 208 transmits the print image data obtained by converting the RIP image data to the printing control unit 209. The image processing control unit 208 also transmits print image data to the inspection apparatus 103.

  Next, an example of the operation of the inspection apparatus 103 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram for explaining the functions of the inspection apparatus 103. In FIG. 6, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to FIG. 2, and detailed description is omitted. The inspection apparatus 103 prints the print quality of the print paper based on the comparison result of the read image obtained by reading the image of the printed medium (print paper) output from the printer 101 and the master image generated based on the print image data. Perform the inspection.

  6, the system control unit 301 includes a system control unit storage unit 351, a job management data processing unit 352, a correction coefficient calculation unit 353, a color conversion table generation unit 354, a defect determination result processing unit 355, and a UI. (User Interface) A display information generation unit 356 and a NUI display information generation unit 357 are included.

  The job management data processing unit 352, the correction coefficient calculation unit 353, the color conversion table generation unit 354, the defect determination result processing unit 355, the UI (User Interface) display information generation unit 356, and the NUI display information generation unit 357 are, for example, a system The CPU included in the control unit 301 executes the inspection device control program stored in advance in the ROM, thereby forming the RAM on the main storage device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each of these units may be configured by independent hardware.

  The inspection device control program may be stored in advance in the ROM or the storage unit 305, or may be acquired from the network I / F unit 303 via an external network and installed in the inspection device 103. Further, the inspection device control program may be provided from a recording medium such as a CD or a DVD.

  The system control unit 301 acquires the job management data transmitted from the printer 101 in step S <b> 303 described above via the external I / F unit 304 and stores it in the system control unit storage unit 351. In the system control unit 301, the job management data processing unit 352 extracts post-processing device processing information from the job management data, and transmits it to the stacker 104 via the external I / F 304.

  In addition, the job management data processing unit 352 extracts print management information from which job processing data is removed from the job management data, and uses the extracted print management information as a master image generation unit 308, a defect determination unit 309, and a print image reading unit. 307 and the mechanism control unit 306. As described above, the job management data includes page identification information to which 1 is added for each page. Therefore, the print management information is information for each page according to the page identification information.

  A mechanism control unit 306 receives print management information and controls paper conveyance.

  The master image generation unit 308 includes an internal storage unit, and previously stores sheet correction information for generating a master image in the internal storage unit.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of the sheet correction information according to the embodiment. The paper correction information includes paper information, paper size, paper size correction information, and a color conversion table as parameters. The paper information indicates the paper type, and the paper size indicates the paper size. The paper size correction information is correction information for converting the resolution of print image data, which will be described later, into the resolution of image data of a read image. The color conversion table is a table for converting color information of each color of CMYK constituting the print image data into color information of each color of RGB constituting the read image data, and is generated by the color conversion table generation unit 354. . Not limited to this, the color conversion table may be stored in advance in the storage unit 305 or the like.

  The master image generation unit 308 includes a combination of sheet information and sheet size information included in the print management information received from the system control unit 301, and sheet information and sheets included in sheet correction information stored in the master image generation unit 308 in advance. Compare with a combination of size information. When the comparison result indicates that the two are different, the master image generation unit 308 sends the paper correction information corresponding to the combination of the paper information and the paper size specified in the print management information to the system control unit 301. Via the storage unit 305.

  Note that the storage unit 305 stores sheet correction information for a plurality of combinations of sheet information and sheet size in advance. When the sheet correction information based on the combination of the sheet information and the sheet size specified by the print management information is not stored in the storage unit 305, the master image generation unit 308 does not perform the master image generation process described later, The system control unit 301 is notified of a sheet unregistered error indicating that the sheet inspection cannot be performed. The system control unit 301 notifies the post-processing device (in this example, the stacker 104) of the inspection apparatus 103 via the external I / F unit 304 as the defect determination information as the sheet unregistered error.

  The master image generation unit 308 receives print image data transmitted from the image processing control unit 208 of the printer 101, performs resolution conversion on the received print image data using thinning processing or interpolation processing, and print image reading The resolution is associated with the read image data acquired by the unit 307. In the present embodiment, as described above, the print image data is a 600 dpi image including a non-print area at the edge of the paper (print medium), and the read image data is an image read at a resolution of 200 dpi.

  Here, the target print paper acquired by the print image reading unit 307 may be deformed due to various factors such as expansion / contraction of the medium (paper) itself in the printing process of the printer 101. In this case, even if the resolution of the print image data is simply converted to the resolution of the read image data, the image of the print image data does not exactly match the image of the read image data. The correction coefficient included in the correction information is converted to a resolution obtained by multiplying the resolution of the read image data. The correction coefficient is calculated by the correction coefficient calculation unit 353 in the paper registration mode and is stored in advance in the master image generation unit 308.

  Next, the master image generation unit 308 changes the color information of each pixel of the print image data after resolution conversion from the color information of each color of CMYK to the color information of each color of RGB using the color conversion table included in the paper correction information. Performs color conversion processing for conversion.

  The master image generation unit 308 generates master image data by combining the converted image data that has been subjected to resolution conversion and color conversion processing as described above and the corresponding print management information. The master image generation unit 308 transmits the generated master image data to the defect determination unit 309. At this time, the association between the master image and the print management information is performed by associating the order in which the print management information is received with information indicating the master image. For example, when the order in which the print management information is received corresponds to the page identification information, the master image generation unit 308 generates master image data by associating the master image with the page identification information.

  The print image reading unit 307 acquires image data by reading the upper surface of the printing paper output from the printer 101 with the reading device 131 and the lower surface with the reading device 132. At this time, the print image reading unit 307 reads a surface corresponding to the print surface information included in the print management information. Here, for the sake of explanation, it is assumed that the printing surface information is “upper surface”, and the print image reading unit 307 acquires only the image data read from the reading device 131 among the reading devices 131 and 132. The print image reading unit 307 combines the acquired image data and the print management information based on the print surface information of the print management information received from the system control unit 301 and transmits the combined image data to the defect determination unit 309 as read image data.

  The defect determination unit 309 includes a storage unit therein and stores the master image data received from the master image generation unit 308. When receiving the read image data from the print image reading unit 307, the defect determination unit 309 reads master image data having page identification information corresponding to the received read image data from the internal storage unit, and reads the master image data and Difference image data is generated by comparing the received read image data.

  The defect determination unit 309 determines the presence / absence of a defect in the image formed on the printing paper based on the generated difference image data, and outputs the determination result to the system control unit 301 as defect determination information. As an example, the defect determination unit 309 obtains an evaluation value of the difference image data by binarizing the difference image data and adding the value of each pixel, and compares the evaluation value with a threshold value to determine the presence or absence of a defect. It is possible.

  The defect determination unit 309 may output the difference image data as inspection result image data to the system control unit 301 together with the defect determination information.

  The system control unit 301 stores the defect determination information supplied from the defect determination unit 309 in the system control unit storage unit 351 and the storage unit 305. When the inspection result image data is further supplied from the defect determination unit 309, the system control unit 301 stores the inspection result image data in the system control unit storage unit 351 and the storage unit 305 in association with the defect determination information. Also good.

  The system control unit 301 stores the defect determination information in the system control unit storage unit 351 and the storage unit 305 in association with the page identification information. For example, the system control unit 301 acquires page identification information associated with the master image data compared when the defect determination unit 309 generates the difference image data, and associates with the defect determination information in the system control unit storage unit 351 and The data is stored in the storage unit 305. Here, the system control unit 301 associates the master image data and the read image data in units of pages, for example, by counting the number of read image data acquired after printing is started by the print job data. It is possible.

  The system control unit 301 generates information to be transmitted to the printer 101 and the stacker 104 in the defect determination result processing unit 355, and transmits the generated information to the printer 101 and the stacker 104 via the external I / F control unit 304. In addition, the system control unit 301 generates UI display information in the UI display information generation unit 356 and supplies the generated information to the operation unit 133 via the user I / F unit 302. The operation unit 133 displays a screen according to the supplied UI display information on a display unit (not shown).

  Further, the system control unit 301 receives a NUI display request, which is a display information request to the PC, from a PC (Personal Computer) connected to the printer 101 via a LAN via the network I / F unit 303. Can do. When the system control unit 301 receives this NUI display request, the system control unit 301 reads the defect determination information from the storage unit 305, generates display information in the NUI display information generation unit 357, and displays the generated display information in the network I / F The data is transmitted to the PC that is the display request source via the unit 303.

  In the system control unit 301, the defect determination result processing unit 355 reads out defect determination information for each printing paper (page) from the system control unit storage unit 351 or the storage unit 305. Then, the defect determination result processing unit 355 determines, from the read defect determination information, the defect image position information indicating, for each print sheet, the number of sheets before and after the print sheet including the defect image with respect to the print sheet. Create

  FIG. 8 shows an example of defect image position information corresponding to a certain printing paper (target printing paper) according to the embodiment. In FIG. 8, the defect image position information includes information on the presence / absence of a defect image, the position of the previous defect image, and information indicating the position of the next defect image.

  In the defect image position information, information indicating the presence or absence of a defect image indicates whether or not the target printing paper itself includes a defect image. The position of the previous defect image indicates the position of the printing paper where the previous defect is detected with respect to the target printing paper. The position of the next defect image indicates the position of the printing paper where a defect immediately after the target printing paper is detected.

  More specifically, the position of the previous defect image is the number of sheets of print paper that includes the defect image first printed before the target print paper. Indicates what to do. For example, when the printing paper printed one sheet before the target printing paper is defect-free and the printing paper printed two sheets before contains a defective image, the position of the previous defective image is set to “2”. . Similarly, the position of the next defective image indicates how many print papers including the defect image appear first with respect to the target print paper among the print papers printed after the target print paper.

  In the example of FIG. 8, the position of the previous defect image and the position of the subsequent defect image are the positions of the printing paper where the defects immediately before and immediately after the target printing paper itself are detected. Not limited. For example, the position of the previous defect image may be information indicating the positions of two or more print sheets where the previous defect is detected with respect to the target print sheet. Similarly, the position of the subsequent defect image may be information indicating the positions of two or more printing papers.

  The defect determination result processing unit 355 creates information indicating the position of the previous defect image and information indicating the position of the next defect image from the information indicating the presence or absence of the defect image for each printing paper. For example, when the printing operation according to the print job in the printer 101 is completed, the defect determination result processing unit 355 totals information indicating the presence / absence of defective images on all printing papers, and based on the total result, the previous defect It is conceivable to create information indicating the position of the image and the position of the next defect image.

  The defect determination result processing unit 355 creates this defect image position information for each printing paper. The defect determination result processing unit 355 stores the defect image position information created for each print sheet in the storage unit 305 in association with the page identification information included in the print management information. As described above, in the printer 101, the identification image generation unit 255 generates an identification image (barcode image) corresponding to the page identification information. Therefore, the defect image position information is associated with the identification image printed for each printing paper.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a defect image position information table stored in the storage unit 305 according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, the defect image position information table includes, for each print sheet, information for identifying the print sheet, the presence / absence of the above-described defect image, the position of the previous defect image, and the position of the next defect image. Are stored in the storage unit 305 as defect image position information for each printing paper. That is, in FIG. 9, the information for identifying the printing paper is page identification information and is identified based on an identification image (barcode image) printed on the printing paper.

  Referring to FIG. 9, among the printing papers printed by a certain print job, the first printing paper P1 has no previous printing paper, and therefore there is no position information of the previous defective image (none). To do. Further, since the printing paper P1 does not include a defect image, the next printing paper P2 also has no position information on the previous defect image. Similarly, the position information of the defect image before the printing paper P3 is none.

  Since the printing paper P3 includes a defect image, the position values of the next defective images on the printing paper P2 and the printing paper P1 are determined to be one and two, which are the numbers counted from the printing paper P3, respectively. In the printing paper P4, since the previous printing paper P3 includes a defect image, the position of the previous defective image is one sheet. Similarly, the position of the defective image in front of the printing paper P5 is two sheets, which is a value obtained by adding one sheet.

  Hereinafter, similarly, for each printing paper, from the information indicating the presence / absence of a defect image, information indicating the number of images including the defect image before and after, the position of the previous defect image, and the next Information indicating the position of the defect image can be obtained, and thereby defect image position information on each printing paper can be obtained.

(Defect determination method according to the embodiment)
Next, with reference to FIG. 10, a method for determining printing paper including a defect image according to the embodiment will be described. In the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a barcode image 11 including page identification information is printed on each printing paper 10 as an identification image for identifying each printing paper 10. Therefore, in the embodiment, the barcode image 11 printed on the printing paper 10 is read by the barcode reading device 400 that can be connected to the inspection device 103 via the network, and the read barcode image is decoded to identify the page. Extract information.

  Further, the barcode reader 400 communicates with the inspection apparatus 103 and acquires defect image position information corresponding to the page identification information from the defect image position information table stored in the storage unit 305 of the inspection apparatus 103. However, the barcode reading apparatus 400 may acquire the defect image position information table itself from the storage unit 305 of the inspection apparatus 103.

  The barcode reader 400 indicates the presence / absence of a defect image on the printing paper 10 corresponding to the page identification information, the position of the previous defect image, and the position of the next defect image from the defect image position information acquired from the inspection apparatus 103. Get each piece of information. Then, the barcode reading apparatus 400 causes the panel unit 404a to display a reading result display screen 410 including each acquired information.

  Thereby, the user can confirm whether or not the target printing paper includes a defective image, and the number of sheets before and after the target printing paper that includes the defective image appears. Further, the inspection of the printing paper by the inspection device 103 is performed without stopping the printing operation by the printer 101 regardless of whether the printing paper includes a defective image. Therefore, the printing system according to the present embodiment can easily specify printing paper including a defect image and can perform high-speed printing.

  FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a barcode reading apparatus 400 that can display the presence or absence of a defective image on a printing paper and the position of the printing paper including the defective image according to the embodiment. The barcode reading apparatus 400 includes a system control unit 401, a barcode reading unit 402, a network I / F unit 403, a UI unit 404, and a storage unit 405.

  The system control unit 401 controls the overall operation of the barcode reader 400. For example, the system control unit 401 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM. The system control unit 401 operates using the RAM as a work memory in accordance with a program stored in the ROM in advance. It exchanges various data and controls the operation of each part.

  The barcode reading unit 402 includes an optical sensor such as a CCD and a light source, for example, and the reflected light reflected by the printing paper 10 is received by the CCD and converted into an electric signal by printing. The barcode image 11 on the paper 10 is read. The read image output from the barcode reading unit 402 is supplied to the system control unit 401.

  A network I / F unit 403 is an interface for connecting the system control unit 401 to a network such as a LAN. The storage unit 405 is a storage device using, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory.

  The UI unit 404 provides a user interface when the user operates the barcode reader 400, and includes a panel unit 404a and a user input unit 404b. The panel unit 404 a uses a display element such as an LCD, for example, and displays a screen according to the control of the system control unit 401. The user input unit 404b receives a user operation and outputs control information corresponding to the operation to the system control unit 401.

  FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram for explaining functions of the barcode reading apparatus 400 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 12, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as those in FIG. 11 described above, and detailed description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 12, the system control unit 401 includes a barcode information acquisition unit 420, an inspection information acquisition unit 421, a result output unit 422, and an input processing unit 423.

  For example, the barcode information acquisition unit 420, the inspection information acquisition unit 421, the result output unit 422, and the input processing unit 423 execute a barcode reader control program stored in advance in the ROM by the CPU of the system control unit 401. Thus, it is formed on the RAM which is the main storage device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each of these units may be configured by independent hardware.

  The barcode reader control program may be stored in advance in the ROM or the storage unit 405, or may be acquired from the network I / F unit 403 via an external network and installed in the barcode reader 400. . Furthermore, the barcode reader control program may be provided from a recording medium such as a CD or a DVD.

  The barcode information acquisition unit 420 analyzes the read image output from the barcode reading unit 402 and extracts barcode information from the barcode image. The barcode information acquisition unit 420 further acquires the page identification information by decoding the extracted barcode information.

  The inspection information acquisition unit 421 communicates with the inspection apparatus 103 via the network I / F unit 403, requests the inspection apparatus 103 for a print paper inspection result, and receives the inspection result from the storage unit 305 of the inspection apparatus 103. As a defect image position information table. The inspection information acquisition unit 421 stores the acquired defect image position information table in the storage unit 405 as inspection information 430.

  The input processing unit 423 performs processing according to an operation on the user input unit 404b. In addition, the result output unit 422 generates a display signal for causing the panel unit 404a to display a predetermined display screen according to the control of the system control unit 401.

  In such a configuration, for example, when an operation for instructing the user input unit 404b to start reading a barcode is performed, the barcode reading apparatus 400 sets the printing paper 10 (target printing paper 10) by the barcode reading unit 402. The reading of the barcode image 11 is awaited. In the system control unit 401, a barcode information acquisition unit 420 acquires page identification information based on the read image output from the barcode reading unit 402. The inspection information acquisition unit 421 acquires defect image position information corresponding to the page identification information from the storage unit 305 of the inspection apparatus 103 according to the page identification information acquired by the barcode information acquisition unit 420, and stores it in the storage unit 405. Remember.

  The inspection information acquisition unit 421 may acquire a defect image position information table in advance and store it in the storage unit 405 prior to the barcode reading start instruction. In this case, the inspection information acquisition unit 421 acquires defect image position information corresponding to the page identification information acquired by the barcode information acquisition unit 420 from the defect image position information table stored in the storage unit 405.

  In the system control unit 401, the result output unit 422 is based on the defect image position information corresponding to the target print paper 10 acquired by the inspection information acquisition unit 421, whether there is a defect image related to the target print paper 10, and the previous defect image. And a display signal for displaying each information indicating the position of the next defect image and the position of the next defect image. The result output unit 422 supplies the generated display signal to the panel unit 404a, and displays the reading result display screen 410 on the panel unit 404a.

  In the example of FIG. 10, in the reading result display screen 410, the target print paper 10 does not include a defect image, and before the target print paper 10 is printed, the print paper including the defect image appears eight sheets before. In addition, after printing, it is shown that printing paper including a defect image appears 20 sheets ahead.

  In the above description, the result output unit 422 has been described to display each piece of information indicating the presence / absence of a defect image, the position of the previous defect image, and the position of the next defect image on the panel unit 404a. It is not limited to. For example, the result output unit 422 may output the information to an external information device or a printer via the network I / F 403 unit.

  The above-described embodiment is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing system 10 Printing paper 11 Barcode image 101 Printer 103 Inspection apparatus 104 Stacker 131,132 Reading apparatus 201,301,401 System control part 204,304 External I / F part 205,251,305,351,405 Storage part 206 , 306 Mechanism control unit 208 Image processing control unit 209 Printing control unit 252 Mechanism control information generation unit 253 Job management data extraction unit 254 RIP image data extraction unit 255 Identification image generation unit 303, 403 Network I / F unit 307 Print image reading 308 Master image generation unit 309 Defect determination unit 352 Job management data processing unit 355 Defect determination result processing unit 400 Bar code reading device 402 Bar code reading unit 404 UI unit 404a Panel unit 404b User input unit 420 Bar code information acquisition unit 421 Inspection Distribution obtaining unit 422 the result output unit 423 input unit

JP 2005-205797 A

Claims (8)

An identification information acquisition unit for acquiring identification information for identifying a printed matter for each printing unit;
A detection unit for detecting defects of the printed matter for each printing unit;
A storage unit that stores the detection result of the detection unit in association with the identification information for each printing unit;
Defect determination that obtains, for each printing unit, defect position information indicating a position of a printing unit in which a preceding and following defect is detected with respect to one printing unit based on the detection result and the identification information stored in the storage unit. An inspection apparatus comprising: a result processing unit. The defect determination result processing unit
2. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein defect position information indicating a position of a printing unit where a defect immediately before and immediately after the one printing unit is detected is obtained for each printing unit. An identification image reading unit that reads the identification image including the identification information printed in advance on the printed material from the printed material;
The identification information is extracted from the identification image read by the identification image reading unit, and the defect position information corresponding to the identification information stored by the defect determination result processing unit is stored based on the extracted identification information. A defect position information acquisition unit to acquire;
The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays a screen indicating the defect position information acquired by the defect position information acquisition unit. On the printed matter, an encoded image obtained by encoding the identification information is printed in advance as the identification image,
The defect position information acquisition unit
The inspection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the identification information is extracted by decoding the encoded image read from the printed matter by the identification image reading unit. The detector is
A master image generation unit that acquires a print image for printing the printed matter from a print job, and generates a master image based on the acquired print image;
An image reading unit that reads an image printed on the printed matter,
5. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the defect is detected based on a result of comparing an image read from the printed material by the image reading unit with the master image. . An inspection system including an inspection device and a reading device,
The inspection device includes:
An identification information acquisition unit for acquiring identification information for identifying a printed matter for each printing unit;
A detection unit for detecting defects of the printed matter for each printing unit;
A storage unit that stores the detection result of the detection unit in association with the identification information for each printing unit;
Defect determination that obtains, for each printing unit, defect position information indicating a position of a printing unit in which a preceding and following defect is detected with respect to one printing unit based on the detection result and the identification information stored in the storage unit. A result processing unit,
The reader is
An identification image reading unit that reads the identification image including the identification information printed in advance on the printed material from the printed material;
The identification information is extracted from the identification image read by the identification image reading unit, and the defect position information corresponding to the identification information stored in the defect determination result processing unit is stored based on the extracted identification information. A defect position information acquisition unit to acquire;
An inspection system comprising: a display unit that displays a screen showing the defect position information acquired by the defect position information acquisition unit. An identification information acquisition step for acquiring identification information for identifying a printed matter for each printing unit;
A detection step of detecting defects of the printed matter for each printing unit;
A storage step of storing a detection result in the detection step in a storage unit for each printing unit in association with the identification information;
A defect position for obtaining, for each printing unit, defect position information indicating a position of a printing unit where a preceding and following defect is detected with respect to one printing unit based on the detection result and the identification information stored in the storage unit. And an acquisition step. A printing system including a printing device, an inspection device, and a reading device,
The printing apparatus includes:
A print image extraction unit that extracts a print image for each print unit from a print job;
An identification information extraction unit that extracts identification information for identifying each printing unit from the print job;
An identification image generation unit that generates an identification image indicating the identification information extracted by the identification information extraction unit;
A print unit that adds the identification image to the print image and generates a printed matter on a print medium;
The inspection device includes:
An identification information acquisition unit for acquiring the identification information from the printing apparatus;
A detection unit for detecting defects of the printed matter for each printing unit;
A storage unit that stores the detection result of the detection unit in association with the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit for each printing unit;
Based on the detection result stored in the storage unit and the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit, the defect position information indicating the position of the printing unit where the preceding and following defects are detected with respect to one printing unit A defect determination result processing unit to be obtained for each printing unit,
The reader is
An identification image reading unit that reads the identification image from the printed matter;
Identification information is extracted from the identification image read by the identification image reading unit, and based on the extracted identification information, the defect position information corresponding to the identification information stored in the defect determination result processing unit is acquired. A defect location information acquisition unit;
And a display unit that displays a screen showing the defect position information acquired by the defect position information acquisition unit.

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