JP6900980B2 - Manufacturing method of the modeled object - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for producing a modeled object.

A technique is known for forming a stereoscopic image having irregularities on one side of a heat-expandable sheet in which a heat-expandable layer that expands by heat is provided on one side of a base material made of thick paper or the like. Specifically, the pattern of the region to be convex is applied to the surface of the heat-expandable sheet on the heat-expandable layer side (hereinafter referred to as the surface of the heat-expandable sheet) or mirror-inverted to the surface on the base material side (hereinafter referred to as the base material). On the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet), print with black ink having high light absorption. By irradiating the printed surface with light such as near infrared rays, the black ink generates heat and the thermally expanded layer is expanded to a surface height corresponding to the shade of the black ink, so that a stereoscopic image can be formed. Further, a desired image pattern is printed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet with cyan, magenta, and yellow color inks having substantially no light absorption, and a three-dimensional image of a desired color having irregularities corresponding to this image pattern is printed. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-150812

A two-dimensional pattern (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a shading image) printed with black ink for forming irregularities on the surface of a three-dimensional image is more heat-developed when printed on the surface of a heat-expandable sheet. Since it is easy to propagate to, the shading of the black ink in the shading image is easily reflected in the expansion height, and the surface can be formed into a fine uneven shape with a clear height difference. However, there is a problem that the shade image printed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet by the black ink is transparent from under the image pattern of the color ink (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a color image) and the color is impaired. On the other hand, since the shade image printed on the base material on the back surface side is not visible from the front surface, a stereoscopic image that does not affect the color can be obtained. However, when the heat of the shading image (black ink) propagates to the thermal expansion layer via the base material (intervening layer) in the thickness direction, it also diffuses in the surface direction, so that the convex or concave region is thin. It was difficult to form it on a line or a point, or to form a steep height difference of unevenness.

An object of the present invention is to form irregularities in the thickness direction of the thermal expansion layer by applying heat to the thermal expansion layer through an intervening layer having a predetermined thickness interposed between the thermal expansion layer. Even in this case, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a modeled object capable of forming a steep difference in height of unevenness.

In order to solve the above problems, the method for producing a modeled product according to the first aspect of the present invention relates to the heat-expanding layer through an intervening layer having a predetermined thickness interposed between the heat-expanding layer. Prior to the unevenness forming step of forming unevenness in the thickness direction of the thermal expansion layer by applying heat and the unevenness forming step, a light and shade image containing a photothermal conversion component for converting light into heat is formed on the intervening layer. Prior to the shading image printing step of printing and the shading image printing step, a predetermined step due to the unevenness is formed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the thermal expansion layer on the boundary between two adjacent regions having different densities in the shading image. A density adjustment step of performing contour enhancement processing on predetermined image data with a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance in at least one of the two regions as a contour portion so that is formed in the unevenness forming step. In the density adjustment step, as the contour enhancement process, the density of the contour portion is adjusted so that the step formed in the unevenness forming step is close to vertical, and both adjacent to the contour portion are adjusted. The density is adjusted so that the surface height of the side region is the same before and after the adjustment of the density of the contour portion, and the grayscale image printing step is performed on the image data subjected to the contour enhancement processing in the density adjustment step. Based on this, the shading image is printed on the intervening layer, and the unevenness forming step is performed through the intervening layer by irradiating light toward the shading image printed on the intervening layer in the shading image printing step. It is characterized in that heat is applied to the thermal expansion layer.
Further, in the method for producing a modeled product according to the second aspect of the present invention, heat is applied to the heat-expanding layer through an intervening layer having a predetermined thickness interposed between the and the heat-expanding layer. Prior to the unevenness forming step of forming the unevenness in the thickness direction of the thermal expansion layer and the unevenness forming step, a light and shade image printing including a photothermal conversion component for converting light into heat is printed on the intervening layer. Prior to the step and the shading image printing step, a predetermined step associated with the unevenness is formed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the thermal expansion layer on the boundary between two adjacent regions having different densities in the shading image. A density adjustment step of performing contour enhancement processing on predetermined image data with a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance in at least one of the two regions as a contour portion is provided. In the density adjustment step, as the contour enhancement process, the density of the contour portion in the region on the high concentration side of the two regions is further increased, and the density of the contour portion in the region on the low concentration side is further increased. The density of the contour portion is adjusted so as to be low, and the density is adjusted so that the surface heights of the regions on both sides adjacent to the contour portion are the same before and after the adjustment of the density of the contour portion. The shading image printing step prints the shading image on the intervening layer based on the image data subjected to the contour enhancement processing in the density adjusting step, and the unevenness forming step is the shading image printing step. It is characterized in that heat is applied to the thermal expansion layer through the intervening layer by irradiating light toward a shade image printed on the intervening layer.

According to the method for producing a modeled object according to the present invention , the thermal expansion layer is formed by applying heat to the thermal expansion layer through an intervening layer having a predetermined thickness interposed between the thermal expansion layer. Even when the unevenness is formed in the thickness direction, the height difference of the unevenness can be formed steeply.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the stereoscopic image formation system which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which schematically explains the structure of a heat-expandable sheet and the manufacturing method of a stereoscopic image, (a) is a heat-expandable sheet, and (b) is a heat-expansion in which a color image and a shade image are printed on each surface. The sex sheet, (c) is a stereoscopic image. (A) is an external view of two-dimensional data showing the expansion height of the front surface of the heat-expandable sheet by the photothermal conversion component concentration printed on the back surface and expanding to that height, and (b) is an external view of (b). A graph showing the photothermal conversion component concentration and surface height of the shade image in the cross section of the stereoscopic image in which the shade image is printed on the back surface based on the two-dimensional data shown in a). Corresponds to. It is a graph which shows the transition of the surface height of the stereoscopic image which printed the uniform pattern of the photothermal conversion component concentration on the back surface of a heat-expandable sheet. It is a flowchart explaining the procedure of generating the print data of a shading image. It is an external view of the boundary extracted from the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3A. It is a schematic diagram explaining the correction of the photothermal conversion component concentration in the contour portion along the boundary, and corresponds to the partially enlarged view of the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3A. FIG. 3 is an external view of data in which the photothermal conversion component concentration of the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3A is adjusted. It is an external view of the two-dimensional pattern data of the density distribution of the photothermal conversion component which concerns on embodiment, and is the print data which mirror image inverted the data shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the appearance of the stereoscopic image which concerns on embodiment, (a) is the appearance view of the front surface, (b) is the front surface height in the BB partial cross section of (a), and the shading image formed on the back surface. It is a graph which shows the photothermal conversion component concentration of.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to each figure. However, the embodiments shown below exemplify a stereoscopic image forming system for embodying the technical idea of the present embodiment, and are not limited to the following. The heat-expandable sheet and the manufactured stereoscopic image, which are the printed matter shown in the drawings, may exaggerate the size, positional relationship, shading, etc. in order to clarify the explanation, and the shape is simplified. There are times when. In the present specification, the stereoscopic image is a sheet-like printed matter having irregularities on the surface on one side due to being partially thick, and further includes an image in which the surface on the one side is colored. .. Further, in the following description, members and processes of the same or the same quality are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[Three-dimensional image formation system]
The configuration of the stereoscopic image forming system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a stereoscopic image forming system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present specification, the three-dimensional image forming system is a three-dimensional image using a heat-expandable sheet formed by forming a heat-expandable layer that expands by being heated on one surface of a base material such as paper to a certain thickness as a printing medium. It is a system for forming. The stereoscopic image forming system 90 includes a computer 9, an input operation unit 7, a display device 8, a printing machine 91, and a light irradiation device 92.

The computer 9 is, for example, a personal computer, which includes an arithmetic processing unit 50 and a storage device 40, and is communicably connected to each of the input operation unit 7, the display device 8, the printing machine 91, and the light irradiation device 92 by a communication cable or the like. Has been done. The input operation unit 7 and the display device 8 may be, for example, an integrated touch panel display, or the input operation unit 7 may be a keyboard or a mouse, and the display device 8 may be a simple display.
The arithmetic processing unit 50 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and includes a back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5. The storage device 40 is a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), or the like, and is not limited to the one built in the computer 9, but is externally connected by a communication cable or the like. HDD may be included. The storage device 40 includes a database such as a print database 4, a program that causes the printing machine 91 to perform printing, a program that causes the light irradiation device 92 to execute near-infrared irradiation, and a program that embodies the back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5. (Not shown) etc. are stored. The print database 4 stores bitmap data for printing an image on a heat-expandable sheet by the printing machine 91, such as back surface foamed bitmap data 4b and front surface image bitmap data 4c.

The printing machine 91 is, for example, an inkjet printer, and has a function of grayscale printing on a heat-expandable sheet with carbon black black ink and a function of color printing on a heat-expandable sheet with color ink.

The light irradiation device 92 is a device that irradiates a heat-expandable sheet with light, and a known device for forming a stereoscopic image with the heat-expandable sheet can be applied. Specifically, the light irradiation device 92 cools a transport mechanism that transports a heat-expandable sheet in one direction like a printing machine 91, a light source that emits light including near infrared rays, a reflector, and the light irradiation device. Mainly equipped with a cooler. The light source is, for example, a halogen lamp, which is provided on the heat-expandable sheet over its entire width. The reflector is formed on a substantially semi-cylindrical columnar curved surface and has a mirror surface inside in order to efficiently irradiate the heat-expandable sheet from the light source, and faces the heat-expandable sheet of the light source. Cover the other side of the side. The cooler is an air-cooled fan, a water-cooled radiator, or the like, and is provided in the vicinity of the reflector.

(Back side foam bitmap data generator)
The back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5 includes a density adjusting unit 51 and an inversion processing unit 55. Further, the density adjusting unit 51 includes a boundary extraction unit 52, a density correction unit 53, and a boundary position correction unit 54. The back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5 inputs the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o, which is the height information of the unevenness to be formed on the front surface of the stereoscopic image, from the outside of the print database 4 or the stereoscopic image forming system 90 and prints it. Generates and outputs backside foamed bitmap data 4b for printing. The detailed operation of the back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5 will be described later.

(Thermal expandable sheet)
Here, the heat-expandable sheet, which is a medium in the stereoscopic image forming system 90, will be described with reference to FIG. 2A. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the structure of the heat-expandable sheet. The heat-expandable sheet 10 includes a base material 12 and a heat-expandable layer 11 formed on one surface (surface) of the base material 12 to have a uniform thickness. The heat-expandable sheet 10 is, for example, a rectangle of A4 paper size, and has a shape in which one of the corners is diagonally cut out in order to identify the orientation. The heat-expanding layer 11 contains heat-expandable microcapsules using a thermoplastic resin as a binder, and further contains a white pigment such as titanium oxide as necessary to whiten the ground color (background color). The microcapsules are formed of a thermoplastic resin, contain a volatile solvent, and are heated to about 80 ° C. or higher in the expansion temperature range, specifically, depending on the type of the thermoplastic resin or the volatile solvent. It expands to a size according to the heating temperature and heating time. As a result, the thermal expansion layer 11 can be expanded to a maximum thickness of about 10 times that before expansion. The base material 12 has a strength that does not cause wrinkles or large waviness when the thermal expansion layer 11 is partially expanded, and the thermal conductivity is as high as possible in the thickness direction. The thickness is preferably small enough to secure the strength, and it is made of, for example, thick paper.

A heat generating component that absorbs light in a specific wavelength range, for example, near infrared rays (wavelength 780 nm to 2.5 μm), converts it into heat, and emits it is attached to a desired region on the front surface or the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10. By irradiating the entire surface with the near-infrared rays, the thermal expansion layer can be expanded to a thickness corresponding to the amount of adhesion thereof to form a stereoscopic image. A general black (K) ink for printing containing carbon black can be applied to the heat generating component. That is, as will be described later, the printing machine 91 of the stereoscopic image forming system 90 prints a light and shade image on at least one surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 with black ink, and then the light irradiation device 92 prints the shade image on the heat-expandable sheet 10. By irradiating the entire surface on which the shading image of the above is printed with near infrared rays, a three-dimensional image in which the thermal expansion layer 11 is partially expanded and the surface is raised is formed. In the present invention, a shading image is formed on the surface (back surface) of the heat-expandable sheet 10 on the base material 12 side and irradiated with near infrared rays.

(Manufacturing method of stereoscopic image)
A method of manufacturing a stereoscopic image by the stereoscopic image forming system 90 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (b) and 2 (c). FIG. 2B is a heat-expandable sheet in which a color image and a shade image are printed on each side, and FIG. 2C is a stereoscopic image. Using the printing machine 91, the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b is used to print on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10, and the shade image 2 is formed with black ink. Next, when the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 is irradiated with near infrared rays by the light irradiation device 92 to expand the heat-expandable layer 11 of the heat-expandable sheet 10, the stereoscopic image 1 is obtained. Further, before irradiating near infrared rays, a color image 3 can be formed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 with color ink to produce a stereoscopic image 1 having an image on the surface. The color image 3 can be formed by printing the surface image bitmap data 4c (see FIG. 1), which is the printing data of the color image 3, using the printing machine 91 in the same manner as the grayscale image 2. The printing order of the shade image 2 and the color image 3 is not specified.

[Backside foam bitmap data generation method]
The backside foamed bitmap data 4b, which is the printing data of the grayscale image 2, and the generation method thereof will be described. The back surface foamed bitmap data 4b is data for grayscale printing the grayscale image 2 on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 with a single color of black ink (photothermal conversion component). Such back surface foamed bitmap data 4b is created based on the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o which is two-dimensional data of the height information of the unevenness to be formed on the front surface of the stereoscopic image. First, the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3A is an external view of two-dimensional data in which the expansion height of the front surface of the heat-expandable sheet is represented by the black ink density printed on the back surface and expanded to that height. FIG. 3B is a graph showing the photothermal conversion component concentration and the surface height of the grayscale image in the cross section of the stereoscopic image in which the grayscale image is printed on the back surface based on the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3A. , Corresponds to the AA partial cross section of FIG. 3 (a). Note that FIG. 3B shows the cross section of the stereoscopic image enlarged and emphasized in the height direction.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o is two-dimensional data represented by shades of white to black, and a large square (rounded quadrangle) is drawn in gray in the center and inside the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o. The character of the at mark "@" is drawn in a relatively light gray color, and the background is white. Specifically, the area R1 inside the square is black with a density of 60% (K60), the area R2 of the characters is black with a density of 10% (K10), and the white of the background (area R0) is with a density of 0%. It can be said that it is black (K0). The three-dimensional bitmap data 4o is represented by a black ink density (hereinafter, black density) in which expansion height information is printed on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 and expanded to that height. Therefore, the higher the surface, the higher the density, that is, the darker the surface. Here, the black density, which is the maximum height at which the thermal expansion layer 11 of the thermal expansion sheet 10 can be expanded by the stereoscopic image forming system 90, is K80. This is because, in the stereoscopic image forming system 90, even if the black density on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 exceeds K80 and is high, the heat-expandable layer 11 does not expand further or the heat generation temperature becomes high. It is set because it is too difficult to secure safety. Further, the white color (K0) is 0 in which the thermal expansion layer 11 does not expand and the expansion height is the minimum, that is, the height of the surface of the thermal expansion sheet 10 before expansion because the black ink does not adhere at all. Therefore, by design, in the stereoscopic image obtained by the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o, the surface is raised to a height of 75% of the maximum expansion height (surface height: 1 in FIG. 3B) in a square, and this square is formed. A groove having a bottom height of 12.5% is formed inside in the shape of the character of the at sign "@", and is formed on the uneven surface as shown by the broken line in FIG. 3B in the cross section. In an actual stereoscopic image, the relationship between the black density of the shading image 2 and the expansion height of the thermal expansion layer 11 is not necessarily linear.

Here, the expansion of the thermal expansion layer 11 by the shading image 2 formed on the surface (back surface) of the heat-expandable sheet 10 on the base material 12 side will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a graph showing the transition of the surface height of a stereoscopic image in which a uniform pattern of black ink density (photothermal conversion component density) is printed on the back surface of a heat-expandable sheet. When the shade image 2 (black ink adhering to the back surface) is irradiated with near infrared rays and generates heat, the heat propagates to the thermal expansion layer 11 via the base material 12. However, the heat released from the shading image 2 propagates not only in the thickness direction of the heat-expandable sheet 10 but also in the surface direction. Therefore, even in the white region (low density region) where the black ink does not adhere to the back surface, heat is diffused near the boundary with the gray to black region (high density region), and the heat is diffused accordingly. Even in the density region, not all of the heat of the black ink in the high density region is propagated in the vicinity of the boundary. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the surface of the stereoscopic image (thermally expanded layer 11 after expansion) in the vicinity of the boundary (0) between the low density region (−) and the high density region (+) sandwiches the boundary. It has an inclined shape and reaches the surface height based on the density of black ink at a certain distance from the boundary in the high density region (on the right side from the portion marked with a cross "+" in FIG. 4). On the other hand, in the low density region, the closer to the boundary, the greater the influence of the heat of the black ink in the high density region, that is, as in the high density region, the surface height based on the density of the black ink at a certain distance from the boundary. To reach. Then, the higher the height to be expanded and the higher the density of the black ink in the high density region, that is, the larger the density difference between the two regions, the more the thermal expansion layer 11 expands from the boundary to the low density region side. However, the distance from the boundary to reach the maximum height in the high concentration region is long, but the angle of the inclined surface is closer to the vertical.

Due to such a phenomenon, if the expansion height information of the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o is mirror-inverted as the density of the black ink as it is, it is printed on the back surface of the thermally expandable sheet 10 and irradiated with near infrared rays to obtain a stereoscopic image. , The groove in the shape of the raised portion from the background (region R0) of the square region R1 and the character (region R2) inside it has a shape in which the step is gently inclined and the rising and falling are unclear. Become. Further, the groove in the region R2 has a narrow line width and a shallow groove depth (the bottom is high), and the convex narrow portion sandwiched between the grooves in the region R1 is recessed lower than the surroundings. Become. Such a stereoscopic image is formed on an uneven surface as shown by a solid line in FIG. 3B in cross section. As a result, in the state where the color image is not attached to the surface of the stereoscopic image, the outline is blurred as a whole, and the portion where the line width of the character is narrow and the portion where the space between the character lines is narrow becomes more blurred. That is, it is unclear whether there is a height difference in the position in appearance. In addition, it is difficult to determine the position and shape of the convex and concave shapes from the tactile sensation of the surface.

Therefore, the back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5 generates the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b, which is the print data of the shade image 2 formed on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10, based on the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o. Hereinafter, a method of generating print data of a grayscale image will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 9. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for generating print data of a grayscale image. FIG. 6 is an external view of a boundary extracted from the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3 (a). FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the correction of the photothermal conversion component concentration in the contour portion along the boundary, and corresponds to a partially enlarged view of the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3 (a). FIG. 8 is an external view of the data in which the photothermal conversion component concentration of the two-dimensional data shown in FIG. 3A is adjusted. FIG. 9 is an external view of two-dimensional pattern data of the concentration distribution of the photothermal conversion component according to the embodiment, and is print data obtained by mirror-inverting the data shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b has a density that changes the black ink density at a contour portion having a certain width along the boundary of adjacent regions having different black ink densities with respect to the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o. The adjustment step S1 and the mirror image inversion step S2 for mirror-inverting the pattern obtained in the density adjustment step S1 are performed to generate the data. Further, in the density adjustment step S1, first, a boundary extraction step S10 for extracting the boundary between adjacent regions having different black ink densities and a contour in which the black ink density is changed along the boundary in each of the two regions sandwiching the boundary. The contour density correction step S20 for providing the portion and the boundary correction step S30 for moving the position of the boundary to the high density region side or the low density region side as needed are performed.

(Concentration adjustment process)
In the boundary extraction step S10, the boundary extraction unit 52 extracts the boundary between regions having different black densities such as the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o. As shown as data 4a _{1 in} FIG. 6, the boundary (square outline) L1 between the area R0 (background) and the area R1 (square), the boundary L2 (outside) between the area R1 and the area R2 (character), L3 (Inside) is extracted.

Next, in the contour density correction step S20, the density correction unit 53 _{aligns each boundary of the data 4a 1} with a contour having a predetermined width along the boundary so as to widen the black density difference in the vicinity of the boundary. Change the density of the part (edge). First, the boundary L1 is selected (S21) to correct the density inside the square (region R1) on the high density side of the boundary L1, that is, to increase the density of the contour portion. However, when the black density C _KD of the region R1 is the maximum K80 (S22: C _KD = K80), the density cannot be changed to a higher density than that, so that the step S23 is not executed, that is, the contour portion is formed. Not provided. Since the black density C _{KD of the} region R1 is K60 (S22: C _KD <K80), as shown in FIG. 7, _{the portion from the boundary L1 to the distance d D is} the contour portion R1 _rim1 of the region R1 (in the figure, As the hatched region), the contour portion R1 _rim1 is changed to a higher density than the original density C _{KD (S23).} Here, as described with reference to FIG. 4, the larger the concentration difference across the boundary, the steeper the step. Therefore, here, the black density of the contour portion R1 _rim1 is changed to the maximum value K80. _Further, the width d _D of the contour portion R1 _rim1 is based on the distance from the black density ( _{K80) of the contour portion R1 rim1 to the expansion height corresponding to the black density C KD (K60) of the region R1.} Set. Further, the black density of the contour portion may always be the maximum value (K80), or the upper limit of the increase width (point) with respect _{to the original density C KD may be set in advance.} Further, regarding the region R0 (background) on the low density side, since the black density C _KL is the minimum K0 (white) (S24: C _KL = K0), the step S25 is not executed, and the contour portion is in the region R0. Is not provided.

Boundary L2 (character contour) is selected (S21), and in the region R1 on the high density side, a contour portion R1 _{rim2 having a width d D} is provided and changed to black density K80 (S23). ). _{On the other hand, since the black density C KL} of the character (region R2) on the low density side is K10 (S24: C _KL > K0), the portion from the boundary L2 to the distance d _{L is designated} as the contour portion R2 rim of the region R2. , This contour portion R2 _rim is changed to a concentration lower than the original concentration C _{KL (S25).} Here, the minimum value is changed to K0 (white). Width d _L of the contour R2 _rim, as well as the width d _D of the high concentration side, is set based on the corresponding contour R2 _rim black density and the original concentration C _KL of. The black density of the contour portion may always be the minimum value (K0), _{the upper limit of the reduction width (point) with respect to the original density C KL,} or, for example, the black density of the contour portion on the high density side across the boundary. The upper limit of the difference may be set in advance. Further, the boundary L3 is selected (S21), and steps S22 to S25 are similarly executed. When all the boundaries L1, L2, and L3 are executed (S26: none), the contour density correction step S20 is terminated, and data 4a ₂ is obtained.

The contour portion R1 _rim1 and the contour portion R1 _rim2 of the region R1 do not have to have the same black density and width d _{D. For example, the black density C KL of} the adjacent regions R0 and R2 and the black density of the contour portion R2 _{rim respectively.} It can be set to a different value depending on the difference between. Further, the black density in each of the contour portions does not have to be uniform, and may be changed according to the distance from the boundary. In particular, in the region R1 on the high density side of the boundaries L1, L2 and L3, the black density _{of the contour portions R1 rim1} and R1 _rim2 is as large as 20 points difference from the _{original density C KD , so that the contour portion R1 rim} At the switching point between the original concentration portion and the original concentration portion, the expansion height may be temporarily lowered to form a small step or groove. Therefore, the contour portions R1 _rim1 and R1 _{rim2 are divided into widths d D1} and d _D2 (d _D1 + d _D2 ≧ d _D ) in order from the boundary side, and the black densities of the respective black densities are set to K80 and K70, respectively. Thus, the contour portion R1 _Rim1, R1 _Rim2, by increasing stepwise the concentration from the original black density C _KD region R1, it is possible to bring the level difference without causing a groove or the like vertically. As for the region on the low concentration side, the concentration may be gradually reduced in the same manner depending on the difference between _{the original concentration C KL and the density of the contour portion.} The density of the contour portion may be divided into three or more, or may be a gradation in which the density is continuously changed without clearly switching.

In the boundary correction step S30, the boundary position correcting unit 54, the former in the data 4a ₂ (stereoscopic bitmap data 4o) black density C _KD, the concentration difference of the contour of the boundary vicinity for C _KL (change amount) [Delta] C _KD , ΔC _{Based on KL} , move the boundary with the contour as needed. For example, with respect to the boundary L1, the region that thermally expands is outside the boundary L1 (the region R0 (background) side) by raising the black density from K60 to _K80 in the contour portion R1 rim1 in the inner region R1 that is on the high density side. Will be extended to (see FIG. 4). If nothing is done, the size of the square, which is the outer shape of the region R1, will be larger than the design in terms of the appearance of the obtained stereoscopic image. Therefore, the boundary L1 is _{moved toward the region R1 by a predetermined distance together with the contour portion R1 rim1} , that is, the square is slightly reduced.

Similarly, with respect to the boundaries L2 and L3, _{by providing the contour portion R1 rim2} having a high concentration in the outer region R1, the region R1 is expanded, that is, the width of the inner region R2 (character) is narrowed. Become. _{On the other hand, with respect to the boundaries L2 and L3, by providing the contour portion R2 rim in} which the black density is reduced from K10 to K0 in the region R2 on the low density side, the region R2 expands and becomes wider, that is, the region R1 Will shrink. Therefore, with respect to the two regions R1 and R2 sandwiching the boundaries L2 and L3, it is predicted which of the regions having the expansion heights of the regions R1 and R2 will expand (S31), and based on the result, the region R1 _{The boundaries L2 and L3 are moved together with the adjacent contour portions R1 rim2} and R2 _rim (S32, S33) or are not moved toward the side of the region R2 or the side of the region R2. As an example, the boundary L2, and the concentration difference [Delta] C _KD contour portion R1 _Rim2 to the concentration C _KD region R1 of the high concentration side, a concentration difference [Delta] C _KL contour portion R2 _rim to the concentration C _KL of the low concentration side region R2 , And determine that the larger area expands. Here, since the amount of change is 20 points in the region R1 and 10 points in the region R2, the region R1 is larger, so the boundary L2 is moved to the side of the region R1. Further, the moving distance of the boundary L2 is calculated based on the difference in the amount of change. The normal image foamed bitmap data 4b _N shown in FIG. 8 is generated by a series of concentration adjusting steps S1. In FIG. 8, the boundaries L1, L2, and L3 before movement are shown by dotted lines.

In the contour density correction step S20, steps S22 to S23 and steps S24 to S25 may be executed in a different order or in parallel. Further, in the boundary correction step S30, the high-concentration region side and the low-concentration region _{are separated by the distances based on the density change amounts ΔC KD} and ΔC _KL of the contour portion in each of the two regions without performing the determination by prediction (S31). The boundary may be moved to the side (S32, S33). Further, every time one boundary is selected (S21) in the contour density correction step S20, the steps S22 to S25 and the boundary correction step S30 (S31 to S33) may be continuously executed. Further, in this case, when the contour portion is provided (S23, S25), the boundary may be moved by a distance based on _{the concentration change amounts ΔC KD} and ΔC _{KL (S32, S33).}

As shown in FIG. 8, the normal image foamed bitmap data 4b _N sandwiches boundaries having different expansion heights in addition to the black density corresponding to the expansion height of the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o (see FIG. 3A). Contours having different black densities are provided along the boundary so that the difference in black densities becomes large. In the normal image foamed bitmap data 4b _N , the region R1 is a narrow portion in the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o, and _{the region of K60, which is the original black density C KD} , disappears, and the contour portions R1 of K80 and K70 are eliminated. _{Only rim2 is} available. Since this portion has a narrow width, the expansion height is suppressed to K60 equivalent even in K80 and K70. Similarly, the region R2 is a narrow portion in the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o, _{the region of K10 having the original black density C KL} disappears, and only _{the contour portion R2 rim} of K0 (white) becomes. This portion has a narrow width, and since both sides are _{sandwiched between the contour portion R1 rim2} of K80 in the region R1, the heat diffused from the contour portion R1 _rim2 thermally expands to a height corresponding to K10.

(Mirror image inversion process)
In the mirror image inversion step S2, the inversion processing unit 55 mirror-inverts the normal image foamed bitmap data 4b _N to obtain the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b shown in FIG. Since the normal image foam bitmap data 4b _N is a normal image from the front surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10, it is made into a mirror image for printing on the back surface. The back surface foamed bitmap data 4b is output by the back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5 and stored in the print database 4.

By printing a shading image 2 on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 based on the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b and irradiating it with near infrared rays, the heat-expanding layer 11 expands, the front surface rises, and the stereoscopic image 1 becomes Manufactured. The shape of the stereoscopic image will be described with reference to FIG. 10A and 10B are views for explaining the appearance of the stereoscopic image according to the embodiment. FIG. 10A is an external view of the front surface, and FIG. 10B is formed on the front surface height and the back surface in the BB partial cross section of (a). It is a graph which shows the photothermal conversion component density | concentration of a shading image. Note that FIG. 10 (b) shows the cross section of the stereoscopic image enlarged and emphasized in the height direction as in FIG. 3 (b). As shown in FIG. 10B, the stereoscopic image 1 has a steep surface with uneven steps that are relatively close to vertical, and it is desirable even if the regions are narrow in each of the convex and concave regions. It will match the surface height of. As described above, according to the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b, the shading image 2 printed on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10 results in a surface shape having a relatively steep step and an edge, which is apparently there. It is clear that there is a difference in height, and it is possible to produce a stereoscopic image 1 having a surface shape having a desired height and depth even if the convex or concave region is narrow. Further, according to the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b, since it is not necessary to print the black ink pattern on the front surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10, an image pattern of a desired color is printed on the front surface to obtain a clear image. It can be attached or used as a solid white stereoscopic image 1 of the background color of the heat-expandable sheet 10. Further, since the stereoscopic image 1 is formed only on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet 10, that is, by printing the shading image 2 on one side and irradiating it with near infrared rays, misalignment is unlikely to occur, and the number of steps is small. High productivity.

In the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b, the boundaries L1, L2, and L3 extracted from the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o in the boundary extraction step S10 are all closed curves, and therefore the contour portions are also closed curves with widths d _D , d _L. Yes, but not limited to this. For example, when a region having a certain expansion height changes continuously in a part between adjacent regions having different expansion heights and the surface shape is inclined by design, this portion. Since the boundary is not extracted in, the extracted boundary becomes a line segment or an open curve, and the contour portion also has a shape along this.

As described above, in the contour density correction step S20, the contour portion cannot be provided in the regions of the black densities K80 and K0. Therefore, in the stereoscopic bitmap data 4o, when the black densities of the adjacent regions are K80 and K0, for example, when the region R1 is K80 and the region R2 is K0, a step on the surface of the stereoscopic image is steeply formed. The groove of the character shape (region R2) becomes partially shallow. Therefore, when the adjacent regions are K0 and K80 or close to them and sufficient density correction of the contour portion cannot be performed (for example, K0 and K70), the entire region on the high density side is before the contour density correction step S20. It is possible to reduce the concentration of, and increase the overall concentration of the region on the low concentration side, or both. After that, the contour density correction step S20 is performed with the changed densities as C _KD and C _KL. The amount of change in the black density of the region is based on, for example, the minimum width of each of the two regions while keeping the difference between _{C KD} and C _KL above a certain level so that a sufficient height difference is formed on the surface of the stereoscopic image. The narrower the width, the larger the amount of change in the density of the contour portion ΔC _KD and ΔC _{KL in the contour density correction step S20.}

In the generation of the back surface foamed bitmap data according to the embodiment, the mirror image inversion step S2 was performed on the _{normal image foamed bitmap data 4b N which is the data after the black density was adjusted (density adjustment step S1).} The stereoscopic bitmap data 4o may be mirror-inverted, and the density adjustment step S1 may be performed on the inverted data. Further, regarding the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o, when the expansion height information is not represented by the black ink density printed on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet and expanded to that height, for example, the maximum height is black (K100). ), Or when the relationship between the black density and the expansion height of the shading image 2 is non-linear but linear, the process of converting the expansion height information to the black ink density is executed. .. Specifically, the back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 5 is provided with an expansion height-black density conversion means (not shown), and is preset in the means before the density adjustment step S1 (boundary extraction step S10). The expansion height of the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o is converted into the black density based on the correlation of the black density with respect to the expansion height (the dependence of the expansion height on the black density).

In the embodiment, the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b is generated based on the completed three-dimensional bitmap data 4o, but the back surface foamed bitmap data 4b is directly generated in the work process for designing the three-dimensional bitmap data 4o. You may. For example, at the same time as specifying the position and shape in the stereoscopic image and its surface height, normal image foam bitmap data 4b _N is generated for that region, and after designing the whole, the mirror image is inverted to generate back surface foam bitmap data 4b. You may.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, by printing the black ink pattern only on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet and irradiating it with near infrared rays, a clear and fine uneven shape with a clear height difference is formed on the surface surface. A stereoscopic image that has and can be attached with a clear image can be obtained. That is, it is possible to form a desired uneven shape without impairing the color.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The inventions described in the claims originally attached to the application of this application are added below. The claim numbers given in the appendix are the scope of the claims originally attached to the application for this application.
[Additional Notes]
<< Claim 1 >>
A stereoscopic image forming system in which the surface of a heat-expandable sheet formed by laminating a heat-expandable layer on a base material is expanded in a desired region to form irregularities.
2 Adjacent to the print data for printing the shade image for expanding the heat-expandable sheet to the surface height according to the density on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet, the density in the shade image is different from each other. The density of the contour portion is defined as a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance in at least one of the two regions so that a steep step is formed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet on the boundary between the two regions. A stereoscopic image forming system characterized by having a print data density adjusting means for adjusting.
<< Claim 2 >>
The print data density adjusting means changes the density of the contour portion on the high density side region of the two regions in the grayscale image to a higher density, and adjusts the density of the contour portion on the low density side region. The stereoscopic image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the density is further reduced.
<< Claim 3 >>
The print data density adjusting means is characterized in that the contour portion is changed to a different density for each distance from the boundary between the two regions, and the amount of change in the density is increased as the density is closer to the boundary. Alternatively, the stereoscopic image forming system according to claim 2.
<< Claim 4 >>
Claims 1 to 2, wherein the print data density adjusting means moves the contour portion and the boundary between the two regions provided with the contour portion by a predetermined distance to one side of the two regions. 3. The stereoscopic image forming system according to any one of 3.
<< Claim 5 >>
A stereoscopic image forming system in which the surface of a heat-expandable sheet formed by laminating a heat-expandable layer on a base material is expanded in a desired region to form irregularities.
A shading image printing means for printing a shading image for expanding the heat-expandable sheet to a surface height corresponding to the density on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet is provided.
In the shading image, in at least one of two regions whose boundary is a portion where a steep step is to be formed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet, the contour portion which is a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance is the contour portion. A stereoscopic image forming system characterized in that the contour portion of a region on the side having a high surface height has a higher density than the outside.
<< Claim 6 >>
A claim, wherein the contour portion is at least one line having a width of the predetermined distance along a boundary between the two regions, and includes a line segment, a curve, a combination thereof, and a closed curve due to the combination thereof. The stereoscopic image forming system according to any one of 1 to 5.
<< Claim 7 >>
For print data for printing a shading image for expanding the heat-expandable sheet to a surface height corresponding to the density on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet formed by laminating a heat-expandable layer on a base material. From the boundary in at least one of the two regions to a predetermined distance so that a steep step is formed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet on the boundary between two adjacent regions having different densities in the shade image. A program for operating a computer as a print data density adjusting means for adjusting the density of the contour portion with the range of the contour portion as the contour portion.
<< Claim 8 >>
A shade image for expanding the heat-expandable sheet to a surface height according to the density is printed on the back surface of the heat-expandable sheet formed by laminating a heat-expandable layer on a base material based on print data. It is a three-dimensional image manufacturing method in which an image printing step and a light irradiation step of irradiating the heat-expandable sheet with light are performed in order to expand the surface of the heat-expandable sheet in a desired region to form irregularities. hand,
In at least one of the two regions so that a steep step is formed on the surface of the heat-expandable sheet on the boundary between two adjacent regions having different densities in the grayscale image with respect to the print data. A stereoscopic image manufacturing method, characterized in that a print data density adjustment step of adjusting the density of the contour portion is further performed with a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance as the contour portion.
<< Claim 9 >>
It is a three-dimensional image in which a foam layer having irregularities on the front surface is laminated on a base material, and a shade image of a photothermal conversion component that converts absorbed light into heat is formed on the back surface.
In the shading image, in at least one of the two regions bordered by a steep step on the surface, the contour portion in the range from the boundary to a predetermined distance has a photothermal conversion component concentration different from that outside the contour portion. A stereoscopic image characterized in that the contour portion of a region having a high surface height has a higher density.

1 3D image 10 Thermal expansion sheet 11 Thermal expansion layer 12 Base material 2 Light and shade image 3 Color image 4 Print database 4b Backside foam bitmap data (print data)
4c Front image bitmap data 4o Solid bitmap data 5 Back surface foamed bitmap data generation unit 51 Density adjustment unit (print data density adjustment means)
52 Boundary extraction unit 53 Density correction unit 54 Boundary position correction unit 55 Inversion processing unit S1 Density adjustment process S2 Mirror image inversion process 90 Stereoscopic image forming system 91 Printing machine (shade image printing means)
92 Light irradiation device

Claims (2)

An unevenness forming step of forming irregularities in the thickness direction of the thermal expansion layer by applying heat to the thermal expansion layer through an intervening layer having a predetermined thickness interposed between the thermal expansion layer.
Prior to the unevenness forming step, a shading image printing step of printing a shading image containing a photothermal conversion component that converts light into heat on the intervening layer,
Prior to the shading image printing step, a predetermined step associated with the unevenness is formed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the thermal expansion layer on the boundary between two adjacent regions having different densities in the shading image. As described above, it has a density adjusting step of performing contour enhancement processing on predetermined image data with a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance in at least one of the two regions as a contour portion.
In the density adjustment step, as the contour enhancement process, the density of the contour portion is adjusted so that the step formed in the unevenness forming step is close to vertical, and the regions on both sides adjacent to the contour portion are adjusted . Adjust the density so that the surface height is the same before and after adjusting the density of the contour portion.
In the shading image printing step, the shading image is printed on the intervening layer based on the image data subjected to the contour enhancement processing in the density adjusting step.
In the unevenness forming step, heat is applied to the thermal expansion layer through the intervening layer by irradiating light toward the shading image printed on the intervening layer in the shading image printing step. A characteristic method for manufacturing a modeled object. An unevenness forming step of forming irregularities in the thickness direction of the thermal expansion layer by applying heat to the thermal expansion layer through an intervening layer having a predetermined thickness interposed between the thermal expansion layer.
Prior to the unevenness forming step, a shading image printing step of printing a shading image containing a photothermal conversion component that converts light into heat on the intervening layer,
Prior to the shading image printing step, a predetermined step associated with the unevenness is formed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the thermal expansion layer on the boundary between two adjacent regions having different densities in the shading image. As described above, it has a density adjusting step of performing contour enhancement processing on predetermined image data with a range from the boundary to a predetermined distance in at least one of the two regions as a contour portion.
In the density adjustment step, as the contour enhancement process, the density of the contour portion in the region on the high concentration side of the two regions is further increased, and the density of the contour portion in the region on the low concentration side is increased. The density of the contour portion is adjusted so that the density is further reduced, and the density is adjusted so that the surface heights of the regions on both sides adjacent to the contour portion are the same before and after the adjustment of the density of the contour portion. ,
In the shading image printing step, the shading image is printed on the intervening layer based on the image data subjected to the contour enhancement processing in the density adjusting step.
In the unevenness forming step, heat is applied to the thermal expansion layer through the intervening layer by irradiating light toward the shading image printed on the intervening layer in the shading image printing step. A characteristic method for manufacturing a modeled object.

Images