JP6319191B2 - Image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program capable of identifying a color difference on a color image that is difficult for a color weak person to identify.

  Color weakness is a color blindness that makes it difficult to identify a specific color, and is classified into several categories depending on the degree. Typical red-green color vision abnormalities among the weak colors are difficult to distinguish between red and green, and can be seen under certain conditions, for example, when colors are next to each other, when an object to be viewed is small, or under dark lighting It is said that it is difficult to distinguish colors when the time is very short.

  A printed matter by an image forming apparatus such as a printer is often used in a situation where it is difficult to distinguish colors due to abnormal red-green color perception. For example, in presentations, the lighting is often turned off to make the projector image clearer, but it is often dim, but at the same time it may be necessary to look through the handouts that are printed. In addition, important items in the printing section are often highlighted with red coloring, and it cannot be said that the text font is large.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for displaying red and green areas on a color image formed on a sheet with different patterns or hatching, or overlapping additional color materials having different glossiness and the like. It is disclosed. For this reason, in patent document 1, it becomes possible to make a color weak person identify the red and green area | region etc. which are difficult to identify.

  However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, the appearance of a color weak person is simulated, and when a color difference between adjacent regions is small, display with a pattern or the like and an additional color material are superimposed.

  For this reason, when there are a plurality of regions that are difficult for the color weak to identify on the same color image, it is necessary to determine the color difference for the plurality of regions, and there is a problem that the processing becomes complicated.

International Publication No. WO2011 / 102157

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that the processing becomes complicated when there are a plurality of regions on the same color image that are difficult to identify for the weak.

The present invention uses a single-color image data generation unit that generates single-color image data of a plurality of single-color images that can be reproduced by overlaying a color image to be printed , and any one of the plurality of single-color image data, A coating image generation unit that generates coating image data, a printing unit that forms the color image on a sheet by superimposing the single color image based on the single color image data, and the generation after the color image is formed An image forming apparatus including a coating unit that superimposes a coating image having a tactile property different from that of the single-color image on the paper based on the coating image data is the main feature.

  According to the present invention, even when there are a plurality of color regions on the same color image that are difficult to identify by the visually impaired, as long as the region includes a single color image on which the coating image is superimposed, Thus, identification by tactile sensation can be made, and the processing is prevented from becoming complicated.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is sectional drawing which shows a part of printed matter in which the coating image was formed. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of image forming processing by the image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. It is a block diagram which shows the image forming apparatus which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows a part of printed matter in which the coating image was formed. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the change setting of the thickness of a coating image. It is a graph which shows the change of the thickness of the coating image set with respect to the density of magenta.

  Even if there are multiple areas on the same color image that are difficult for color-blind people to identify, the purpose is to prevent the processing from becoming complicated. When a color image is formed, it is realized by superimposing a coating image having different tactile properties on a corresponding monochrome image using any one of monochrome image data.

[Image forming apparatus]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 1 can print out a color image such as a color printer or a color digital multifunction peripheral. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation panel 3, a printing unit 5, a storage unit 7, a control unit 9, and the like. Note that the image forming apparatus 1 includes other well-known configurations necessary for a color printer and a color digital multifunction peripheral, but description of these configurations is omitted.

  The operation panel 3 is an input / output device including a touch panel screen, hard keys, and the like, and enables operation input to the image forming apparatus 1, display of operation status display, and the like.

  The printing unit 5 forms an image on a sheet by consuming the color material 11a by an electrophotographic method, an inkjet method, or the like in the print function, copy function, or facsimile function of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The printing unit 5 of the present embodiment includes a color material 11a corresponding to the color space of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and K (black), and superimposes single color images of the plurality of colors. Thus, a color image is formed on the paper.

  In the present embodiment, the printing unit 5 functions as a coating unit. That is, the printing unit 5 superimposes a coating image having different tactile properties on any one of the monochrome images. In this embodiment, a coating image is superimposed on a magenta monochrome image. For this reason, the printing unit 5 includes a coating color material 11b for a coating image. Details of the coating image and the like will be described later. The coating unit can be provided separately from the printing unit 5.

  The storage unit 7 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores data and programs necessary for processing in the image forming apparatus 1, a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a work area, and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) as an auxiliary storage device. And the like.

  The control unit 9 includes a CPU (central processing unit) and the like, and is an arithmetic processing device that controls each unit of the image forming apparatus 1 by executing a program. The control unit 9 of this embodiment functions as a single color image data generation unit 13, a coating image data generation unit 15, and a print instruction unit 17 by executing the image forming program in the storage unit 7.

  The monochromatic image data generation unit 13 realizes a monochromatic image data generation function, and outputs monochromatic image data of a plurality of monochromatic images (in this embodiment, monochromatic image data of CMYK) that can be reproduced by overlaying the color image to be printed. Generate.

  The plurality of single-color image data is generated based on color image data input to the image forming apparatus 1 from an external information processing apparatus (not shown) or its own scanner.

  The coating image data generation unit 15 realizes a coating image generation function, and reuses or reproduces any single color image data generated by the single color image data generation unit 13 as it is for the coating image. The coating image data. In this embodiment, magenta monochrome image data is used as coating image data.

  The print instruction unit 17 realizes a print instruction function, and causes the printing unit 5 to form a color image in which a plurality of single color images are superimposed on a sheet based on the plurality of single color image data generated by the single color image data generation unit 13. Give print instructions.

  The print instruction unit 17 according to the first embodiment further performs a coating instruction for causing the printing unit 5 to form a coating image together with the print instruction based on the coating image data.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of a printed material on which a coating image is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the coating image 19 is stacked on a single-color image (in this embodiment, a magenta single-color image) 21 corresponding to the single-color image data to be used. The coating image 19 is transparent and allows the color image 23 to be visually recognized, while making the surface roughness, viscosity, or softness different from the monochromatic image 21 as a tactile property. Note that the magenta monochrome image 21 itself has the same tactile properties as other cyan, yellow, and black monochrome images.

  The surface roughness, viscosity, or softness of the coating image 19 depends on the properties of the coating color material 11b. For example, the surface roughness of the coating image 19 is different from that of the monochromatic image 21 if an additive of particles larger than the color material corresponding to the monochromatic image 21 is added to the transparent color material as the coating color material 11b. Similarly, if an additive that affects viscosity and softness is added to a transparent color material to form a coating color material 11b, the viscosity or softness of the coating image 19 can be made different from that of the monochromatic image 21. is there.

  The strength of surface roughness, viscosity, or softness that is a tactile property of the coating image 19 varies depending on the density of the magenta monochrome image 21. That is, the surface roughness, viscosity, or softness intensity of the coating image 19 represents the gradation of the monochromatic image 21 based on the size of the dots and the like, while the magenta monochromatic image data constitutes the monochromatic image 21 by a set of dots. Therefore, it corresponds to the gradation. For example, as the dots of the magenta monochrome image 21 become dense, the dots of the coating image 19 become dense, and the surface roughness, viscosity, or softness becomes relatively large. Further, as the dots of the magenta monochrome image 21 are increased, the dots of the coating image 19 are also increased, and the surface roughness, viscosity, or softness is relatively increased.

[Image formation processing]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of image forming processing by the image forming apparatus 1 of FIG.

  The image forming process according to the first exemplary embodiment is executed when the color image 23 is printed out in a state where the image forming apparatus 1 is in the color vision assist mode. Colors can be identified by touch.

  When the color image 23 is printed out, specific processing such as color conversion and gamma correction is performed on the color image data in advance, and the image forming processing of the first embodiment is performed on the processed color image data to perform printing. Output is made.

  In step S1 of the image forming process, “generation of monochromatic image data” is executed. That is, the monochrome image data generation unit 13 of the image forming apparatus 1 generates CMYK monochrome image data based on the color image data after specific processing such as color conversion and gamma correction is executed.

  Next, in step S2, “generation of coating image data” is executed. That is, the coating image data generation unit 15 of the image forming apparatus 1 generates the coating image data using the magenta monochrome image data created in step S1.

  When the monochrome image data and the coating image data are generated in this way, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, a “print execution instruction” is executed. That is, the print instruction unit 17 of the image forming apparatus 1 issues a print instruction to the printing unit 5 using the CMYK single-color image data and the coating image data.

  Thereby, in step S4, “color image formation” is executed. That is, the printing unit 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 forms the color image 23 by superimposing the CMYK single color images on the sheet based on the CMYK single color image data of the print instruction in Step S3.

  Next, in step S5, “formation of coating image” is executed. That is, the printing unit 5 of the image forming apparatus 1 superimposes the coating image 19 on the magenta monochrome image 21 on the sheet as shown in FIG. 2 based on the coating image data of the printing instruction in step S3.

  As a result, the surface roughness, viscosity, or softness of the magenta monochrome image 21 is improved with respect to the other monochrome images by the coating image 19. For this reason, all the areas on the color image 23 of the color including the magenta monochrome image 21 can be identified by the tactile sense by tactile sense.

  Many of the color weaknesses are red-green color vision abnormalities, but red-green color vision abnormalities make it difficult to visually distinguish colors such as red, orange, brown, and purple that contain magenta from green that does not contain magenta. . For this reason, by simply overlaying the coating image 19 on the magenta single-color image 21, it is possible to reliably identify a color-impaired person with a color that is difficult to visually identify.

[Effect of Example 1]
As described above, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment includes the monochrome image data generation unit 13 that generates monochrome image data of a plurality of monochrome images that can be reproduced by overlaying the color image 23 to be printed, and the monochrome image. Using the printing unit 5 that forms a color image on a sheet by superimposing single-color images based on the data, and magenta single-color image data that is one of a plurality of single-color image data, A coating unit (printing unit 5) that superimposes the coating image 19 having different tactile properties on the image 21;

  Therefore, in the first embodiment, even if there are a plurality of color regions that are difficult to visually identify by the weak color person on the same color image 23, the coating image 19 is used as long as the magenta monochrome image 21 is an overlapping region. It is possible to improve the surface roughness, viscosity, or softness in a lump so that tactile discrimination is possible, and the processing is prevented from becoming complicated.

  In the first embodiment, the monochrome image data used for the coating image 19 constitutes a monochrome image 21 by a set of dots, and the gradation of the monochrome image 21 is expressed by the size of the dots.

  For this reason, the coating image 19 can express the gradation of the monochrome image 21 by changing the strength of tactile properties according to the gradation of the original monochrome image data. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the color weak person can be surely identified by the tactile sense of the color change on the color image 23 based on the magenta density change.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of a printed material on which a coating image is formed. Since the basic configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the corresponding components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment increases the thickness of the magenta single-color image 21 that is any single-color image on the sheet by using the coating image 19, and makes the tactile property of the magenta single-color image 21 different. is there. The coating image 19 is composed of a transparent color material.

  In addition, the image forming apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment changes the thickness of the coating image 19 according to the density of magenta. To change the thickness of the coating image 19, the coating image 19 may have a laminated structure in which a plurality of coating layers 19 a are stacked, and the number of coating layers 19 a may be changed according to the density of magenta.

  For this reason, the coating image data generation unit 15 generates data for a plurality of coating layers 19a based on magenta single-color image data that is any single-color image data generated by the single-color image data generation unit 13. Let it be image data.

  The image forming apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment can set the change in the thickness of the coating image 19 linearly or non-linearly with respect to the magenta density, and the control unit 9 also functions as the thickness change setting unit 25. .

  The thickness change setting unit 25 realizes a thickness change setting function, and accepts the setting of the thickness change of the coating image 19 by the user through the operation panel 3.

  FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing the change setting of the thickness of the coating image 19. As shown in FIG. 6, the thickness change setting unit 25 displays a setting screen for changing the thickness of the coating image 19 on the operation panel 3 in accordance with an operation on the menu screen.

  On the setting screen, the thickness change setting unit 25 acquires necessary setting information from the storage unit 7 and displays the current thickness change setting of the coating image 19. In response to an operation on the setting screen, the thickness change setting unit 25 displays a setting reception screen on the operation panel 3 and receives a setting change of the change in thickness of the coating image 19. The received setting information is stored in the storage unit 7 by the thickness change setting unit 25.

  FIG. 7 is a chart showing changes in the thickness of the coating image 19 set linearly and nonlinearly with respect to the magenta density. The horizontal axis indicates the density of magenta (maximum 100), and the vertical axis indicates the thickness of the coating image 19 (maximum 100).

  In the non-linear example of FIG. 7, for example, while the magenta density changes from 0 to 100, the change rate of the thickness of the coating image 19 is higher than the other density when the magenta density is around 50. . Thereby, an edge is given to the change in the thickness of the coating image 19, and it becomes easy for the color weak to identify the color change on the color image based on the magenta density by tactile sense.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the thickness of the magenta monochrome image 21 can be increased to the extent that the coating image 19 can be identified by tactile sense as long as it is an area where the magenta monochrome image 21 is overlapped. Therefore, the second embodiment can achieve the same effects as the first embodiment.

  In Example 2, since the thickness of the coating image 19 is changed according to the magenta density, the color change on the color image 23 based on the change in the magenta density can be reliably identified to the color weak by touch. .

  In the second embodiment, since the change in the thickness of the coating image 19 can be made non-linear to the density of magenta, an edge is given to the change in the thickness of the coating image 19 to identify the change in color on the color image 23. Easy to do.

1 Image forming apparatus 5 Printing section (coating section)
13 Monochromatic image data generation unit 15 Coating image data generation unit 17 Print instruction unit 19 Coating image 21 Single color image 23 Color image

Claims (5)

A monochrome image data generation unit that generates monochrome image data of a plurality of monochrome images that can be reproduced by overlaying a color image to be printed;
A coating image generation unit that generates coating image data using any one of the plurality of monochrome image data;
A printing unit that forms the color image on a sheet by superimposing the monochrome image based on the monochrome image data;
After the color image is formed, based on the generated coating image data, a coating unit that superimposes a coating image having a tactile property different from the monochromatic image on the paper,
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
The monochromatic image data generation unit generates monochromatic image data of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black according to the color space of the device,
The coating unit uses the magenta monochrome image data to superimpose the coating image on the magenta monochrome image.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:
The coating image changes the tactile properties according to the gradation of the monochrome image.
An image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein
The coating image forming unit increases the thickness of the coating image on the paper corresponding to the used monochrome image data according to the density of the monochrome image.
An image forming apparatus. An image forming program executed by a computer of an image forming apparatus including a printing unit and a coating unit,
A monochrome image data generation function for generating monochrome image data of a plurality of monochrome images that can be reproduced by overlaying a color image to be printed;
A coating image generation function for generating coating image data using any one of the plurality of single-color image data;
A printing function for forming the color image on a sheet by superimposing the monochrome image based on the monochrome image data using the printing unit ;
After the color image is formed using the coating unit, a coating function for superimposing a coating image having a tactile property different from that of the monochrome image on the paper based on the generated coating image data ; ,
An image forming program that causes the computer to realize the above .

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