JPH10114044A - Image-forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image-forming apparatus which can make a printing plate of a stamp and confirm an image when the stamp obtained by the printing plate is pressed. SOLUTION: In an image-forming apparatus which can operate in a print mode and a stamp plate formation mode, data to be used in the print mode are converted to data obtained by inverting data to be used in the plate formation mode to black-white and mirror images (S125). A user can print images in the same state of a direction and a part where ink is transferred and a part where ink is not transferred as an image when a stamp formed by the apparatus is pressed, and accordingly can easily confirm contents of the plate beforehand.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for heating and melting the surface of a porous sheet that can be impregnated with ink based on input data, thereby forming an image composed of an ink-permeable portion and an ink-non-permeable portion on the surface of the porous sheet. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus to be formed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus configured to form an image on the surface of a porous sheet having continuous cells that can be impregnated with ink based on data such as characters input from a keyboard or the like by a user. It has been known. In general, a heated image forming means such as a thermal head is used to form an image on the surface of the porous sheet as described above, and a heated portion of the porous sheet is melted to form an ink impermeable film that does not allow ink to pass therethrough. Is done. The porous sheet on which an image has been formed in this manner is used as a stamp plate.

In such an apparatus, there has been a demand for confirming in advance what imprinting result can be obtained by a printing plate made using a porous sheet. Since a heated image forming means is employed for image formation, a portion of the porous sheet that is not permeable to ink can be known by using thermal paper instead of the porous sheet.

[0004]

However, since the heated paper usually develops a color in a heated portion, the portion of the stamp to which the ink is transferred is white on the thermal paper (non-colored state), and the ink is not printed on the stamp. The part to be transferred is shown as black (in a colored state) on the thermal paper. Moreover, the image formed on the porous sheet is an image for a printing plate and is a mirror image. For this reason, even when thermal paper was used, the final image of the stamp was difficult to grasp. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an image forming apparatus capable of making a stamp plate of a stamp and confirming an image when the stamp is stamped with the stamp plate created by the plate making. I have.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 selectively heats a recording medium based on image data to form an image on the recording medium. In an image forming apparatus having a heated image forming means for forming, a first image controlling the heated image forming means to form a first image corresponding to the image data.
Control means, and the heated image forming means is controlled so as to form a second image which is a mirror image of the first image and is obtained by inverting a heating unit and a non-heating unit when forming the first image. A second control unit; and a selection unit that selects one of the first control unit and the second control unit.

According to this configuration, when the first control means is selected by the selection means, the heated image forming means is controlled so as to form a first image corresponding to the image data, and When the control means is selected, the heating image formation is performed so as to form a second image which is a mirror image of the first image and in which the heating unit and the non-heating unit in forming the first image are reversed. Means are controlled. Therefore, by selectively using the first image and the second image, an image for forming the stamped surface of the stamp and an image representing the result of stamping the stamped surface are realized by one heated image forming unit.

[0007] The image forming apparatus according to claim 2 is
A second control unit for selectively heating and melting the surface of the porous sheet to form an image including an ink transmitting portion and a non-transmitting portion, using a porous sheet that can be impregnated with ink as the recording medium; A prepress mode controlled by
It is operable in a print mode controlled by the first control means for selectively heating the thermal paper and printing an image composed of a colored portion and a non-colored portion by using a thermal paper as the recording medium. A switching unit for switching an operation mode between the plate making mode and the printing mode; and the switching unit is configured to function as the selection unit.

According to this configuration, since the operation mode is switched between the plate making mode and the print mode by the switching unit, when the recording medium is a porous sheet, the operation mode is controlled by the second control unit. When the recording medium is thermal paper, the image is formed in a printing mode controlled by the first control means, so that the stamped surface of the stamp can be easily formed and the stamped result of the stamped surface can be easily obtained. Is performed.

Further, the image forming apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a designation unit for designating the plate making mode or the print mode, and the switching unit switches the operation mode based on a designation state of the designation unit. Is configured.

Therefore, the user can designate the operation mode as the printing mode as required by the designation means,
Image formation is automatically executed by the first control means, and the result of imprinting a stamped surface to be made in the plate making mode can be confirmed.

The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the recording medium is a sheet-shaped recording medium, and the heated image forming means includes a line thermal head extending in a width direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium. An image is formed on the sheet-shaped recording medium by driving the line thermal head based on the image data while the line thermal head and the sheet-shaped recording medium relatively move. It is configured as follows.

According to this configuration, when a sheet-shaped recording medium is used, the line thermal head is driven based on the image data while the recording medium and the line thermal head are relatively moved, and a predetermined amount of information is recorded on the recording medium. Is formed. Therefore, for example, the present invention can be applied to both a case where a porous sheet is used as a recording medium and a case where a thermal paper is used, and a stamp surface is formed on a porous sheet by selectively using image data to be used. Then, the stamping result of the stamp surface is formed on the thermal paper.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A stamp apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of the stamp plate making apparatus 100. The stamp plate making apparatus 100 has an apparatus body 101 having a keyboard 60 on which various character keys and operation keys are arranged, and a cover 103 provided at the rear (upper side in the figure) of the apparatus body 101 so as to be openable and closable. Behind the keyboard unit 60 of the apparatus main body 101 (upper side in the figure)
Is provided with a display device 102 for displaying an input character string, various messages associated with an operation, and the like. The display device 102 has an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

The keyboard 60 includes a number / alphabet key 60A for inputting numbers and alphabets, a kana key 60B for inputting hiragana and katakana, a print key 60C for executing plate making after data input, and a display on the display device 102. Cursor key 60D for moving a cursor to be operated, a power key 60E for turning on / off the power of the stamp making apparatus 100, a frame setting key 60F for setting a frame surrounding the input characters / symbols, etc. Numbers / Alphabet, Hiragana /
Character type selection key 60 for switching between katakana
G, character size change key 6 for changing the size of input characters
0H, an execution key 60J for executing setting of various functions (determining function settings), a cancel key 60K for canceling without setting the function settings, and reading and using illustration data stored in a ROM described later. , An erase key 60M for deleting an input character, a mode switching key 60N for switching between a plate making mode and a printing mode, and the like.

In a portion of the apparatus main body 101 covered by the cover 103, a printing plate insertion portion 104 for inserting and fixing a printing plate holding device 11 described later is formed. Further, arms 80A and 80B are formed at both ends in the left-right direction in the drawing of the cover 103, and the other ends of the arms 80A and 80B are supported by a frame described later so as to be rotatable around a predetermined rotation axis. . The cover 103 can be opened and closed (a state covering the printing plate insertion portion and an exposed state) while rotating the arms 80A and 80B around the rotation axis.

FIG. 2 shows the stamp plate making apparatus 10 shown in FIG.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a porous sheet 1 to be subjected to plate making by using a sheet No. 0. As the porous sheet 1, for example, a sheet of a foamable resin having open cells can be used. The porous sheet 1 has a property of permeating the impregnated ink as it is, but when heated to melt the surface, the continuous cells are broken and a non-permeable film that does not transmit the ink is formed. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the edges 4 and the side surfaces 5 of the porous sheet 1 are subjected to a heat treatment so as to be ink-impermeable parts. Further, the side surface 3 of the step portion formed by forming the edge portion 4 is also subjected to heat melting treatment so as to be an ink non-transmitting portion. In the figure, an upper surface 2 is a surface used as a stamp surface (plate making surface) 2.

The porous sheet 1 is made of a hard or semi-hard polyolefin resin, polyurethane resin, vinyl chloride resin, ABS resin, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer or the like having fine open cells. In addition,
Rubber-based materials can also be used. Stamp making machine 1
The thickness of the porous sheet 1 used in 00 is 1 to
It is about 3 mm. The shape of the porous sheet 1 is not limited to the shape as shown in FIG. 1 (that is, the shape in which the peripheral portion is heat-treated and the ink non-permeable portions 3, 4, and 5 are formed). It is also possible to use a porous sheet that has not been heat-treated.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a plate-making stamp plate 10 in which plate making is performed on the stamp surface 2 of the porous sheet 1 shown in FIG. 2 to form a plate making surface having characters 6. In the example shown in FIG. 3, only the portion of the character 6 on the plate making surface 2 is left in an ink-permeable state, and heat is applied to portions other than the character portion (A, B, C) 6 so that the ink non-permeable portion 7 Is formed. When the stamp is pressed using the printing plate 10, ink is applied to the printing plate surface, and unnecessary portions are wiped off. Then, the ink penetrates into the character portions (A, B, C) 6 which are the ink-impregnated portions, and the ink in the ink non-transmissive portions 7 is wiped off. In this state, if the printing plate 10 is pressed against paper or the like, the ink oozes out from the character portion 6 and is transferred.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a printing plate holding device 11 used to hold the porous sheet 1 and mount it on the printing plate making device 100 when making a stamping surface 2 of the porous sheet 1 with the stamp making device 100. FIG. FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which the porous sheet 1 is held by the printing plate holding device 11.

The printing plate holding device 11 has a support 12 for supporting the back surface of the rectangular flat porous sheet 1, which is a sheet-shaped recording medium, and a handle 14. On the front side (upper side in FIG. 4) of the support 12, a rectangular holding recess 18 for holding the porous sheet 1 is formed in a groove shape, and along the longitudinal direction of the step of the holding recess 18. A pair of locking claws 13 are formed. Further, the pressure-sensitive weak adhesive layer 17 is provided on the bottom surface of the holding concave surface 18 in a strip shape along the longitudinal direction. The porous sheet 1 has the back surface of the stamp surface 2 abutted against the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 17, and both side surfaces 1 a, 1 a along the longitudinal direction are elastically locked by a pair of locking claws 13, 13. In this state, it is held by the printing plate holding device 11.
At this time, one end of the porous sheet 1 is
Is held in a state where it is also inserted into a groove 15 formed at one end. In order to insert one end of the porous sheet 1 into the groove 15, the vicinity of the groove 15 of the holding concave portion 18 is inclined 1
6 are formed.

In order to attach the porous sheet 1 to the printing plate holding device 11 in this configuration, first, one end of the porous sheet 1 in the long side direction is slid along the inclined surface 16 and inserted into the groove 15. Next, between the pair of locking claws 13, 13, the back surface of the stamp surface 2 is pressed against the pressure-sensitive weak adhesive layer 17 and inserted. The back surface of the stamping surface 2 of the porous sheet 1 is held in the holding recess 18 of the printing plate holding device 11 by the pressure-sensitive adhesive 1.
7 and the side surfaces 1a, 1
a is elastically locked by the locking claws 13, 13. In addition, since the end of the porous sheet 1 in the longitudinal direction is inserted into the groove 15, the porous sheet 1 is securely mounted on the printing plate holding device 11.

6 to 8 are views showing the plate making unit 600 inside the stamp plate making apparatus 100 taken out. 6 is a perspective view, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line VIII-VIII of FIG. The plate making unit 600
It has a frame 61 for fixing each member, and side walls 61 a and 61 b are provided upright on both left and right sides of the frame 61. A guide rod 64 for guiding the carriage 63 and a thermal head 65 for guiding the carriage 63 and mounted on the carriage 63 are provided between the side walls 61a and 61b.
And a head position switching rod 67 for operating a cam body 66 for raising and lowering the head. The cam body 66 is mounted so as not to rotate with respect to the head position switching rod 67 and to be slidable in the axial direction. The head position switching rod 67 is rotatably supported by bearings 73 provided on the left and right side walls 61a and 61b.

The porous sheet 1 is mounted on the printing plate holding device 11 with the printing surface 2 exposed, inserted into the printing plate insertion portion 104 shown in FIG. 1, and shown by phantom lines in FIGS. As shown, it is fixed above the passing position of the carriage 63 by locking support means (not shown). The carriage 63 is supported by a guide rod 64 and a head position switching rod 67 so as to be movable left and right, and a rack 68 of a predetermined length extending left and right is integrally provided at a front end of the carriage 63. A drive pinion 70 fixed to the shaft of a forward / reverse rotatable drive motor 69 fixed to the front wall 61c of the frame 61
Power is transmitted to the pinion gear 72 via a reduction gear group 71 disposed on the back surface of the front wall 61c from the front, and the pinion gear 72 is engaged with the rack 68 to move the carriage 63 left and right (arrows A in FIGS. 3 and 4). (Direction and arrow B direction).

A cam contact plate 74 and a head heat radiating plate 75 are mounted on the carriage 63 so as to be vertically rotatable via a support shaft 76 in a direction orthogonal to the head position switching rod. The thermal head 65 is fixed to the side. The thermal head 65 has the same configuration as a thermal head used in a known thermal printer. For example, 128 point-like heating elements are arranged in a row in a direction parallel to the stamp surface 2 and perpendicular to the traveling direction of the carriage. It was done. In addition, the length of the row of the point-like heating elements is as follows.
The width is set to be slightly longer than the width of the stamp surface 2 (the length in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the carriage 63).

The upper surface of the cam contact plate 74 and the head radiating plate 75
The head heat radiating plate 75 is constantly urged by an urging spring 77 provided between the head radiating plate 75 and the rear surface of the head. The cam body 66 formed in an elliptical shape so as to abut on the lower surface of the cam abutting plate 74,
The head position switching rod 67 is moved to the arrow C or the arrow D in FIG.
The orientation can be changed by rotating in the direction
In the posture in which the thermal head 65 is fixed, the heat radiating plate 75 to which the thermal head 65 is fixed is released downward, and the cam body 66 is
Is set in a vertically elongated posture, the head radiating plate 75 pivots upward via the cam contact plate 74 and the biasing spring 7, and
The thermal head 65 is configured to be in pressure contact with the stamped surface 2 of the porous sheet 1 mounted with the position fixed.

A gear 78 attached to the end of the head position switching rod 67, a gear 79 pivotally supported by the right side wall 61b, and arms 80A and 80B for rotating the gear 79.
1 (see FIG. 1), the attitude of the cam body 66 can be changed by rotating the head position switching rod 67 in the direction of arrow C or arrow D. The arms 80A, 80B
Is fixed to the cover 103 as shown in FIG. With the cover 103 closed, the head position switching rod 6
7 is rotated in the direction of arrow D, and as shown in FIG. 7, the cam body 66 is in a vertically long posture. When the cover 103 is opened, the head position switching rod 67 is rotated in the direction of arrow C, and the cam body 66 assumes a horizontally long posture as shown in FIG. That is, when the cover 103 is closed, the thermal head 65 is pressed against the stamp surface 2 (see FIG. 7),
When the print head 3 is opened, the thermal head 65 is released from the stamp face 2 (see FIG. 8).

In the stamp making apparatus 100, the initial position of the carriage 63 is the right end position in FIG. Then, plate making is performed by always moving the carriage 63 from the initial position in the direction of arrow A in FIG. After performing the plate making, the carriage 63 does not move until the printing plate holding device 11 is removed from the printing plate insertion portion 104, and after the printing plate holding device 11 is removed from the printing plate insertion portion 104,
The carriage 63 is returned to the initial position.

The operation for returning the carriage 63 to the initial position after plate making will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a position detecting mechanism of the carriage 63. The carriage 6 when viewed from above in FIG.
3, the positional relationship between the microswitch 93 and the operation member 92 is shown. Referring to FIG.
Is a switch for detecting that the carriage 63 has moved to the right in FIGS. 6 and 7 and has reached a predetermined origin position. The operating member 92 is operated by the carriage 63 to turn on / off the micro switch 93. Both are provided on the frame 61. As will be described later, this position detecting mechanism also functions as a printing plate detection mechanism for detecting whether or not the printing plate holding device 11 is mounted on the stamp making device 100.

The operating member 92 is rotatable about a support shaft 92X. As shown in FIG. 9, the operating member 92 is formed in a U-shape with elasticity, and a U-shaped portion 92a abuts on the frame 61.
And a contact portion 92b, U contacting the microswitch 93.
A first operating portion 92 c provided on the side of the character portion not in contact with the frame 61 and protruding toward the side (upward in FIG. 9) into which the printing plate holding device 11 is inserted. The second projecting along (to the left in the figure)
And an operation unit 92d.

FIG. 9 shows that the plate making is completed and the printing plate holding device 11
Shows a state immediately after is extracted from the insertion section 104. At this time, the operation member 92 is formed by the elasticity of the U-shaped portion 92a.
Is in the posture shown in FIG. That is, the contact portion 92b is separated from the microswitch 93 and the microswitch 9
3 is in an off state. The case where the carriage 63 moves to the right in FIG. 9 and reaches the state shown in FIG. 10 will be described. The carriage 63 has a second operation unit 92
A protrusion 63P is formed to abut on d (see FIGS. 6 and 8). When the carriage 63 reaches the position shown in FIG. 10, the protrusion 63P comes into contact with the tapered portion at the tip of the first operation portion 92c, and rotates the operation member 92 clockwise against the elastic force of the U-shaped portion 92a. Let it. Then, the contact portion 92b
Turns on the microswitch 93. The position of the carriage 63 at the time when the operating member 92 is rotated by the protrusion 63P of the carriage 63 and the contact portion 92d turns on the microswitch 93 is defined as the origin position. When the micro switch 93 is turned on, the carriage 63 is returned by a predetermined amount in the reverse direction and stopped. The stop position at this time is the initial position of the carriage 63. When the carriage 63 is at the initial position, the micro switch 93 is off.
Therefore, the micro switch 93 is turned on when the carriage 63 is at the home position.

FIG. 11 shows the printing plate holding device 11 inserted into the insertion portion 10.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the position of the operation member 92 when the operation member 92 is inserted into the operation member 4. Except when the carriage 63 is at the above-mentioned origin position,
The operation member 92 is in a state as shown in FIG. 9, and the micro switch 93 is off. When the printing plate holding device 11 is inserted into the insertion portion 104, the side surface of the support 12 of the printing plate holding device 11 pushes the second operating portion 92d of the operating member 92, thereby causing the operating member 92 to move as shown in FIG. Rotate clockwise from the position shown in FIG. Since the operating member 92 rotates clockwise, the contact portion 92b of the operating member 92 turns on the microswitch 93, as in the case where the carriage 63 has reached the origin position. Therefore,
The microswitch 93 is turned on when the carriage 63 is at the origin position or when the printing plate holding device 11 is inserted into the insertion portion 104. That is, the microswitch 93 can detect both that the carriage 63 has reached the origin position and that the printing plate holding device 11 has been mounted.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the control unit 210 of the stamp making apparatus 100. As shown in FIG.
The control unit 210 is connected with a keyboard 60, a thermal head 65, a carriage motor 69, a display device (liquid crystal display) 102, and a microswitch 93.

The control unit 210 includes a CPU 211,
ROM 212, RAM 213, CG-ROM for plate making
214 and a display CG for display on the display device 102.
It has a ROM 215, an input interface 216 connected to the keyboard 60 and the microswitch 93, and an output interface 217.
8 are interconnected. Further, the control unit 2
10 includes a head drive circuit 219 and a motor drive circuit 220 connected to the output interface 217, respectively.
A display device driving circuit 221 is provided.

The ROM 212 stores a control program for controlling the entire operation of the stamp making apparatus 100.

The RAM 213 is provided with an input buffer 224 for storing input data, a plate making buffer 225 for storing plate making data, a shift register 226 used as a work area for various processes, and other various counters and registers. I have.

The CG-ROM 214 for plate making stores dot pattern data of a large number of characters to be made in association with the code data.
15 stores the dot pattern data for display of a large number of characters to be made in association with the code data. The dot pattern of the frame set by the frame setting key 60F is also used for the plate making CG-ROM 214 and the display C
It is stored in the G-ROM 215. The character has a pattern of a plurality of sizes. Further, a plurality of types of dot patterns of the illustration data set by the illustration key 60L are prepared.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the stamp making apparatus 100 controlled by the CPU 211. The stamp making apparatus 100 can form an image in which a character string and an illustration are put in a frame on the printing plate surface 2 of the porous sheet 1. The size of the frame is determined by the character string and the illustration size that fall within the frame.

The flowchart of FIG. 13 is started by the CPU 211 when the user operates the power key 60E to turn on the power of the stamp making apparatus 100. When the processing in FIG. 13 is started, the CPU 211 first proceeds to step S1
In 01 (hereinafter simply abbreviated as S101 and S103), it is determined whether or not the printing plate holding device 11 is mounted on the stamp plate making device 100. The stamp plate making apparatus 100 is configured to position the carriage 63 at the initial position when the power is turned on and when the printing plate holding device 11 is removed after plate making. For this reason, if the printing plate holding device 11 is already mounted when the power is turned on, a message is displayed so as to remove it once. In S101, when it is determined that the printing plate holding device 11 is mounted (S10
1: YES), the CPU 211 displays a message “Please remove the holding device” on the display device 102.

If the printing plate holding device 11 is not attached when the power is turned on, or if the user removes the printing plate holding device 11 after the message is displayed in S103, the CPU 211 returns NO in S101. Judge, S1
At 05, the apparatus is initialized. In the initial setting, the carriage 63 is moved to the initial position. As described above, plate making is performed by driving the thermal head 65 while moving the carriage 63 based on the initial position. Therefore, in S105, the carriage 63 is moved rightward in FIG. 7, and after detecting that the micro switch 93 has reached the origin, the carriage 63 is moved a predetermined amount in the reverse direction (leftward in FIG. 7) to the initial position. Position. During the initial setting in S105, a display indicating that preparation is in progress is displayed on the display device 102.

When the initial setting is completed in S105,
The CPU 211 receives a key operation. That is, a process corresponding to the key operation of the user is executed in steps after S107. If there is no key input (S107: N
O), the process enters a standby state in which S107 is repeated. When a key input is performed (S107: YES), the CPU 211
Executes a process corresponding to the input key in S109. Here, the processing corresponding to the input key includes, for example, a normal character input, a character string selection processing, a change in the size of the selected character string, a deletion of a character, a movement of a cursor, a change in input character type, a frame setting, an illustration, and the like. And the like. When the print key 60C is operated, the processing from S113 described below is executed, and the processing is not performed in S109.

In S111, the print mode of the stamp plate making apparatus 100 is set to the plate making mode or the print mode using the mode change key 60N. The plate making mode is a mode for making a printing plate using the porous sheet 1 as a recording medium, and the printing mode is a process in which a stamp image is stamped using a printing plate made in the plate making mode using thermal paper. This mode is used to reproduce. In the stamp plate making apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, when the mode change key 60N is operated, a screen for selecting a print mode and a plate making mode is displayed on the display device 102. Here, the user operates the cursor key 60D to specify a desired mode, and
By operating J, a mode can be selected. The mode may be switched from one to the other each time the mode change key 60N is operated, or a key corresponding to each mode may be provided to directly specify the mode. Next, in S113, it is determined whether or not the print key 60C has been operated. If the print key 60C has not been operated (S113: NO), the CPU
211 repeats the processing from S107.

If it is determined in S113 that the print key 60C has been operated and a plate making start command has been sent to the CPU 211, the micro switch 93 is turned on in S115 to determine whether or not the printing plate holding device 11 has been mounted. Is determined based on whether That is, S1
After the carriage 63 moves to the initial position at 05 and before the print key 60C is pressed, the printing plate holding device 1 has already been moved.
1 is attached, the print key 60 is
When C is operated, the process immediately proceeds to the process after S119. If the print key 60C is operated, the printing plate holding device 11 is still in the stamp plate making device 1.
If it is not attached to 00 (S115: NO), the process proceeds to S117, a message is displayed on the display device 102 to attach the printing plate holding device 11, and the process returns to the key input waiting state of S107. That is, the printing plate holding device 1
Unless the execution key is operated in a state where 1 is mounted on the stamp plate making apparatus 100, the processing from S107 to S117 is repeated.

The recording medium to be mounted on the stamp making apparatus 100 is appropriately selected by the user based on the mode selected in S11. When the plate making mode is selected, the porous sheet is held by the printing plate holding device 11 in a state where the porous sheet is held, and when the printing mode is selected, the porous sheet is provided separately from the printing plate holding device 11. The thermal paper 1T is held in a holding device for confirmation (not shown) held in the device. This confirmation holding device is a printing plate holding device 1.
As in the case of No. 1, a support and a handle are provided, and a sheet-like sponge material is previously attached to the surface side of the support instead of the porous sheet. Then, the thermal paper 1T is releasably attached to the surface of the sponge material.

In S115, when it is confirmed that the printing plate holding device 11 is mounted (S115: YES), S1 is performed.
At 19, the CPU 211 develops bitmap data of plate making data such as character strings, symbols, and illustrations in the plate making buffer 225. The bitmap data developed here is a bitmap corresponding to the printing process. That is, when the thermal head 65 is driven based on the developed bitmap, the characters and symbols are heated.

Next, the CPU 211 in S121
It is determined which of the prepress mode and the print mode is selected. If print mode is selected,
The process proceeds to S123, in which the thermal head 65 is driven based on the bit map such as a character string, symbol, or illustration stored in the plate making buffer 225. As a result, since the heated portion of the thermal paper 1T develops a color, as shown in FIG. 14, the thermal paper 1T corresponds to the data in the plate making buffer 225.
The part of the character string 6T in the correct direction will be colored.
While the thermal head 65 and the carriage 63 are being driven, a message “printing” is displayed on the display device 102.
When the printing is completed, the driving of the thermal head 65 and the carriage 63 is stopped, and a message “print completed” is displayed on the display device 102 for a predetermined time, and then the process returns to S101.

The process is determined to be YES in S101 and S1
In step 03, a message is displayed on the display device 102 to remove the printing plate holding device 11 on which the thermal paper 1T is mounted.
When the user removes the printing plate holding device 11 from the stamp making device 100, NO is determined in S101, the process proceeds to S105, and the carriage 63 is returned to the initial position.

If it is determined in S121 that the plate making mode has been selected, the CPU 211 proceeds to S125.
Processing proceeds to In S125, the plate making buffer 2
The bitmaps such as character strings, symbols, and illustrations stored in 25 are converted into bitmaps in which black and white are inverted and mirror images are inverted. The portion of the stamped surface 2 (plate making surface) of the porous sheet 1 that is not heated and melted is the portion of the stamp to which the ink is transferred. For this reason, if the data for printing (for thermal paper coloring) is simply mirror-inverted and an image is formed on the printing surface 2, the image stamped by the printing plate 1 is reversed in black and white with the image formed on the thermal paper 1T. I do. For this reason, the bitmap data for printing stored in the plate making buffer 225 is inverted not only in mirror image but also in black and white.

The CPU 211 drives the thermal head 65 based on the plate map thus converted. As a result, as shown in FIG. 15, portions other than the characters (portions indicated by oblique lines in the figure) of the porous sheet 1 are heated and melted to become ink non-transmitting portions, and the character portions are not heated and the ink transmitting portions (ink Impregnated part). The characters are image-formed as mirror image characters. The bitmap can be inverted between black and white by replacing the binary data “1” and “0” represented by “1” and “0”. The mirror image data can be easily generated by controlling the read address of the memory.

While the thermal head 65 and the carriage 63 are being driven, the display device 102 displays "Making". When the plate making is completed, the driving of the thermal head 65 and the carriage 63 is stopped, and a message “End of plate making” is displayed on the display device 102 for a predetermined time, and then the process returns to S101.

The process is determined to be YES in S101 and S1
03, the printing plate holding device 1 on which the porous sheet 1 is mounted
A message is displayed on the display device 102 so as to remove the device 1. The user places the printing plate holding device 11 in the stamp plate making device 10.
If it is detached from 0, NO is determined in S101 and S10
The process proceeds to 5, and the carriage 63 is returned to the initial position.

In the above-described embodiment, the printing dot pattern is based on the printing dot pattern, and the printing pattern is obtained by inverting the printing pattern between black and white and mirror image. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a printing pattern may be generated by inverting black and white and a mirror image with reference to a dot pattern for plate making,
One of the black and white information may be set as a reference, and the other of the image directions may be set as a reference.

In the stamp making apparatus 100 described above, the thermal head 65 constitutes a heated image forming means. Also, S121 executed by the CPU 211
Constitutes the selection means. The processing of S123 executed by the CPU 211 constitutes a first control means,
The processing of S125 constitutes the second control means.

According to the image forming apparatus of the present embodiment, the user can determine that the orientation of the image, the portion to which the ink is to be transferred, and the portion to which the ink is not to be transferred are the same as the image stamped by the stamp made by the device. Since printing can be performed so as to be in a state, the contents of plate making can be easily confirmed in advance.

Further, since the operation mode can be easily switched between a mode for making a plate using a porous sheet and a mode for printing using a thermal paper, the result of imprinting can be easily known as necessary. It becomes possible. The mode can be changed by operating the mode change key 60N, and it is easy to switch to the plate making mode after checking the stamp face.

For example, there are a case where the ink impregnated porous sheet is selectively heated and melted to make a stamp having an ink-permeable surface and a non-permeable surface, and a case where the stamp imprinting result is confirmed using thermal paper. However, since the recorded images for both are not only mirror-inverted, but black-and-white inversion (that is, inversion of the portion to be heated) is performed, the same confirmation image as the image obtained by stamping is reproduced on thermal paper. Is possible.

[0056]

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when the first control means is selected by the selection means, the heated image is formed so as to form the first image corresponding to the image data. When the forming means is controlled and the second control means is selected, the heating unit and the non-heating unit in the case of forming a mirror image of the first image or the non-heating unit when forming the first image are reversed.
The heated image forming means is controlled so as to form an image of the type described above, so that the user can selectively use the first image and the second image to determine the direction of the image, the portion where the ink is transferred, and the portion where the ink is not transferred. However, since the image can be printed so as to be in the same state as the image imprinted with the stamp made by the apparatus, the contents of the plate making can be easily confirmed in advance.

According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect,
Since the operation mode is switched between the plate making mode and the printing mode by the switching means, a mode for making a plate using a porous sheet and a mode for printing using a thermal paper can be easily selected and executed. Thus, it is possible to obtain a stamp surface of the stamp and a print indicating the result of stamping the stamp surface.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect,
Since the switching means is configured to switch the operation mode based on the status of the plate making mode or the designating means for designating the printing mode, the user can designate the printing mode by the designating means as necessary, In the plate making mode, it is possible to confirm the result of imprinting the stamp surface to be made.

According to the image forming apparatus of the fourth aspect,
When a sheet-shaped recording medium is used, the line thermal head is driven based on the image data while the recording medium and the line thermal head relatively move, and a predetermined image is formed on the recording medium. It can be applied to both the case where the porous sheet is used as the recording medium and the case where the thermal paper is used, and the image data to be used, that is, the image data of the inverted black and white image and the image data of the erect image. By using differently, a stamped surface can be formed on a porous sheet, and the imprint result of the stamped surface can be formed on a thermal paper.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing the appearance of a stamp making apparatus 100. FIG.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a porous sheet 1 to be subjected to plate making by the stamp plate making apparatus 100 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state in which plate making is performed on the porous sheet 1 shown in FIG. 2 to form a plate of a character 6;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of a printing plate holding device 11 used to hold the porous sheet 1 and mount it on the plate making device 100.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which a porous sheet 1 is held by a printing plate holding device 11;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a plate making unit 600 of the stamp plate making apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6;

8 is a view taken in the direction of arrows VIII-VIII in FIG.

9 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship among a carriage 63, a micro switch 93, and an operation member 92 when the plate making unit 600 of FIG. 6 is viewed from above.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between the carriage 63, the microswitch 93, and the operation member 92 in a state where the carriage 63 in FIG.

11 is a diagram showing the position of the operation member 92 when the printing plate holding device 11 is inserted into the insertion portion 104. FIG.

FIG. 12 is a control unit 21 of the stamp making apparatus 100.
FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing of the stamp plate making apparatus 100.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating image formation on thermal paper.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating image formation on a porous sheet.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 porous sheet 3 side surface 4 edge 5 side surface 11 printing plate holding device 12 support body 14 handle portion 60 keyboard 600 plate making unit 61 frame 61a side wall 61b side wall 63 carriage 64 guide rod 65 thermal head 66 cam body 67 head position switching rod 68 Rack 69 Drive motor 70 Drive pinion 71 Reduction gear group 72 Meshing gear 74 Cam contact plate 75 Head radiator plate 76 Support shaft 77 Urging spring 78 Gear 79 Gear 80 Lever 80A Arm 80B Arm 92 Operating member 92a U-shaped portion 92b Contact Unit 92c First operating unit 92d Second operating unit 93 Micro switch 100 Stamp plate making device 101 Main unit 102 Display device 103 Cover 104 Stamp printing unit 118 Bus 210 Control unit 211 CPU 212 RO M 213 RAM 214 CG-ROM for plate making 215 CG-ROM for display 216 Input interface 217 Output interface 219 Head driving circuit 220 Motor driving circuit 221 Display driving circuit 224 Input buffer 225 Plate making buffer 226 Shift register

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus having a heated image forming means for forming an image on a recording medium by selectively heating the recording medium based on the image data, wherein the first image corresponding to the image data is provided. A first control unit for controlling the heated image forming unit to form a first image, and a second unit which is a mirror image of the first image and in which a heating unit and a non-heating unit are reversed when forming the first image. A second control unit that controls the heated image forming unit so as to form an image of the second type, and a selection unit that selects one of the first control unit and the second control unit. Image forming apparatus. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium is a porous sheet that can be impregnated with ink, and the surface of the porous sheet is selectively heated and melted to form an image including an ink transmitting portion and a non-transmitting portion. A stencil making mode controlled by the second control means for forming the image, and a thermal paper is used as the recording medium, and the thermal paper is selectively heated to print an image composed of a coloring portion and a non-coloring portion. Operable in a print mode controlled by the first control means, and a switching means for switching an operation mode between the plate making mode and the print mode. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the function is as a means.
An image forming apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The image according to claim 2, further comprising a designation unit for designating the plate making mode or the printing mode, wherein the switching unit switches the operation mode based on a designation state of the designation unit. Forming equipment. 4. The recording medium is a sheet-shaped recording medium, and the heated image forming means has a line thermal head extending in a width direction of the sheet-shaped recording medium, wherein the line thermal head and the sheet-shaped recording medium are combined. The image is formed on the sheet-shaped recording medium by driving the line thermal head based on the image data while the recording medium is relatively moving. 4. The image forming apparatus according to 3.