KR20220022744A - Portable printer of estimating coordinate using coded pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

A portable printer which prints a document on a medium comprises: a portable housing; a controller which is mounted on the portable housing and controls printing; a sensor for measuring location of the portable printer; and a print head which is mounted on the portable housing and outputs ink in response to a signal received from the controller. The controller identifies location or velocity of the portable printer by using the sensor and prints the document to the medium according to a predetermined overlap prevention algorithm based on the identified location or velocity. The portable printer provides performance and use convenience without adopting paper feeding method.

Description

A portable printer that estimates coordinates using a coded pattern {PORTABLE PRINTER OF ESTIMATING COORDINATE USING CODED PATTERN}

The present invention relates to a portable printer. A portable printer is also called a portable hand printer. Users can print a document they want on an appropriate medium by moving the portable printer. At this time, it is necessary to estimate the position or movement speed of the portable printer despite the uncontrolled movement of the portable printer. The present invention relates to a technique for estimating the position or movement speed of the portable printer.

A typical printer is connected to a computer. They are bulky, difficult to move, and impossible to carry. In addition, since a paper feeding method is used, it is limited to standard paper of a certain size.

Recently, in order to solve the above problems and the development of small electronic devices, portable printers are becoming popular. Mobile printers include special-purpose handheld printers and general-purpose handheld printers. Special-purpose handheld printers include barcode, label, receipt, and icon printers. These are a data processing unit and a printing unit for a special purpose are integrally configured, and the data processing unit in the device generates data to be printed (eg, barcode, label, receipt, etc.) print directly from General purpose handheld printers include photo or general small printers. It consists of a device responsible for printing only. A general-purpose handheld printer receives data to be printed from a mobile device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, and a mobile phone, and prints the received data.

The present invention provides the performance and ease of use of a portable printer that does not employ a paper feeding method by estimating the position or moving speed of the portable printer and appropriately controlling the print head based on the position and moving speed.

The present invention estimates the position and movement speed of a portable printer more accurately and efficiently by pre-printing a coded pattern on a medium and sensing the printed coded pattern in real time using a sensor.

The present invention defines a coded pattern through the number of pixels from which ink is ejected, coordinates of the pixels from which the ink is ejected, the amount of ejected ink, or a combination thereof, and stores and manages information about the coded pattern in a lookup table By doing so, the position and movement speed of the portable printer are more efficiently estimated.

The present invention provides a portable printer capable of maintaining and improving print quality even when the portable printer moves in a non-horizontal direction (slanted surface).

A portable printer for printing a document on a medium according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a portable housing; a controller mounted on the portable housing and controlling printing; a sensor for measuring the position of the portable printer; and a print head mounted on the portable housing and configured to output ink in response to a signal received from the controller, wherein the controller identifies a position or speed of the portable printer using the sensor, the identified position or print the document on the medium according to a preset anti-overlapping algorithm based on the speed.

The controller prints a predetermined coded pattern on the medium during the process of printing the document or before starting to print the document.

The controller estimates the position or speed of the portable printer by using the coded pattern sensed by the sensor, and executes the overlap prevention algorithm based on the position or speed of the portable printer.

The coded pattern is defined through the number of pixels from which the ink is ejected, the coordinates of the pixels from which the ink is ejected, the amount of ejected ink, or a combination thereof, and information about the pixels from which the ink is ejected is managed by the controller and It is stored as an accessible lookup table.

The coded pattern is printed under a condition that the deterioration of the print quality of the document is made within a preset range.

The coded pattern is printed at least in the corner area of the document, or in a way that minimizes the drop of ink.

The controller executes the overlap prevention algorithm according to the multi-pass printing method, and when the coded pattern is printed according to the multi-pass printing method, a different color is applied to each pass.

When the coded pattern is printed according to the multi-pass printing method, the controller compensates for an under-ejection amount of ink generated during the printing process of the previous passes during the printing process of the last pass among the plurality of passes.

The overlap prevention algorithm is installed and executed in the controller, and controls overlapping printing of the document within a preset threshold range despite irregular movement of the portable printer.

The sensor includes at least one of an image sensor, an optical sensor, a UV sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor.

The sensor is disposed on the front/rear side or left/right side of the print head to sense the coded pattern, and the controller estimates at least one of coordinates, speed, and movement distance of the portable printer.

The controller controls the print head based on the moving speed of the portable printer.

The coded pattern is printed in a color determined based on the color of the content included in the document or the mood of the content.

The medium includes at least one of paper, wood, plastic, metal, fiber, or concrete structure, and the printing direction of the printing is horizontal, non-horizontal or vertical.

When the printing direction is non-horizontal, the nozzles of the print head are controlled in conversion to a case where the printing direction is horizontal.

When the printing direction is non-horizontal, it is determined whether the print head is within a preset critical angle range, and a warning signal is generated based on the determination result.

The present invention can provide the performance and ease of use of a portable printer that does not employ a paper feeding method by estimating the position or moving speed of the portable printer and appropriately controlling the print head based on the position and moving speed. there is.

According to the present invention, the position and movement speed of a portable printer can be estimated more accurately and efficiently by pre-printing a coded pattern on a medium and sensing the printed coded pattern in real time using a sensor.

The present invention defines a coded pattern through the number of pixels from which ink is ejected, coordinates of the pixels from which the ink is ejected, the amount of ejected ink, or a combination thereof, and stores and manages information about the coded pattern in a lookup table By doing so, the position and movement speed of the portable printer are more efficiently estimated.

The present invention can provide a portable printer capable of maintaining and improving print quality even when the portable printer moves in a non-horizontal direction (slanted surface).

1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a portable printer that does not employ a paper feeding method.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a portable printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating sensors disposed around a print head according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view showing a coded pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view showing a coded pattern according to another embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a view showing a coded pattern according to another embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram conceptually illustrating horizontal printing and non-horizontal printing.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited or limited by the examples. Also, like reference numerals in each figure denote like members.

1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a portable printer that does not employ a paper feeding method.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a user prints a desired document on the medium 110 by moving the medium 110 while holding the portable printer 100 in the hand.

Here, the medium 110 includes at least one of paper, wood, plastic, metal, fiber, and concrete structures, and the printing direction may be horizontal, non-horizontal or vertical.

As will be described in detail below, the portable printer 100 of the present invention does not use a paper feeding method. Since the portable printer 100 is moved by the user, it is very important to estimate the position and the moving speed of the portable printer 100 and to estimate the print head accordingly. In addition, since the size of the portable printer 100 is also an important factor in the design, it is recommended to employ excessive hardware or use hardware/software that consumes large power in order to estimate the position and movement speed of the portable printer 100 . doesn't happen

The present invention can provide the performance and ease of use of a portable printer that does not employ a paper feeding method by estimating the position or moving speed of the portable printer and appropriately controlling the print head based on the position and moving speed. there is. In particular, the present invention can estimate the position and movement speed of a portable printer more accurately and efficiently by pre-printing a coded pattern on a medium and sensing the printed coded pattern in real time using a sensor.

Although not shown in FIG. 1 , a mobile device or computer may be paired with a portable printer or communicate with each other using various communication interfaces such as WIFI, Bluetooth, and optical communication. In this case, a program or application for controlling the portable printer is installed in the mobile device or computer, and is periodically/aperiodically updated.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a portable printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the portable printer is implemented in a portable housing, a controller 210 for controlling printing, a sensor 220 for measuring the position of the portable printer, and ink in response to a signal received from the controller. and a print head 230 for outputting the output. The controller 210 uses the sensor 220 to identify the position or speed of the portable printer, and prints the document on the medium according to a preset overlapping prevention algorithm based on the identified position or speed. Here, the sensor 220 includes at least one of an image sensor, an optical sensor, a UV sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor.

In this case, the controller 210 prints a predetermined coded pattern on the medium during the process of printing the document or before starting to print the document. This coded pattern provides basic data on the location and moving speed of the portable printer in real time even when the user moves the portable printer. That is, the coded pattern provides information on the absolute coordinates of each of the elements present in the coded pattern on the medium, and the controller 210 controls the printing process using the information on the absolute coordinates.

In addition, the portable printer executes an anti-overlapping algorithm based on position and movement speed to prevent certain dots from overlapping and printing.

The coded pattern is defined through the number of pixels from which the ink is ejected, the coordinates of the pixels from which the ink is ejected, the amount of ejected ink, or a combination thereof, and information on the pixels from which the ink is ejected is transmitted to the controller 210 . stored as lookup tables that are managed and accessible by Thereafter, the sensor 220 may recognize the coded pattern in real time, and the controller 210 may estimate the coordinates, moving distance, and moving speed of the portable printer in real time using the recognized coded pattern. Based on the estimation result, the controller 210 controls the print heads (nozzles) to print a document desired by the user.

In addition, the coded pattern may be printed in a color determined based on a color of content included in the document or a mood of the content. For example, when content included in a document mainly uses light blue, the coded pattern may be printed in light blue or blue.

3 is a diagram illustrating sensors disposed around a print head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , several sensors 311 , 312 , 313 , and 314 are disposed around the print head 315 . Here, the sensors 311 , 312 , 313 , and 314 may be an image sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a UV sensor, an optical sensor, or the like, but any sensor having sufficient specifications to recognize a coded pattern in real time is possible.

When the print head 315 moves in the up/down direction, the sensor 312 and the sensor 314 recognize the surrounding coded pattern according to the moving direction, and the controller according to the coordinates of the print head 315, The moving distance, moving speed, etc. are estimated, and ink ejection of the print head 315 is controlled according to the estimation result.

Similarly, when the print head 315 moves in the left/right direction, the sensor 311 and the sensor 313 recognize the surrounding coded pattern according to the moving direction, and the controller adjusts the print head 315 accordingly. Coordinates, moving distance, moving speed, etc. are estimated, and ink ejection of the print head 315 is controlled according to the estimation result.

4 to 7 illustrate various examples of coded patterns.

4 is a view showing a coded pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , each pixel is implemented with 4×4 dots, and the present invention is similarly applied to a pixel composed of N×M dots.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the coded pattern may be printed according to a predetermined rule. For example, a pattern or various information (numbers, characters, images, etc.) may be printed at preset intervals, and a pattern or various information (numbers, characters, images, etc.) may be printed in a preset area.

In the example of FIG. 4 , referring to the top left first pixel, a dot of (1, 1) coordinates is printed, and a dot of (1,2) coordinates is printed on the second top left pixel, and the top left A dot of (1, 3) coordinates is printed on the third pixel, and a dot of (1, 4) coordinates is printed on the fourth pixel from the top left.

In this way, a coded pattern is printed on the pixels, and when the sensor reads the coded pattern later, it is possible to determine in real time where the pixel is located on the medium.

In addition, although it is assumed in FIG. 4 that each dot is printed in one color for convenience of explanation, each dot may be printed in various colors such as RGBW or CWYW, and the position and color combination of each pattern is various coordinates You can code the pattern

This coded coordinate pattern is stored as a lookup table, and later, the controller can easily refer to the lookup table to ensure real-time location tracking.

Also, although FIG. 4 shows that ink is jetted to one dot for each pixel, the present invention may use only some pixels to represent a coded pattern. For example, only an even-numbered pixel or an odd-numbered pixel may be used, or only pixels located in a specific column (column) or row (row) may be selectively used.

In addition, the present invention can print a coded pattern according to a multi-pass printing method. For example, in the case of using the 4 PASS method, the present invention may inject a different color for each pass.

5 is a view showing a coded pattern according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , according to the present invention, a coded pattern can be printed under the condition that the deterioration of the print quality of the document is made within a preset range. That is, printing pixels that are not directly related to the content of the document in order to provide a real-time location of the portable print may cause deterioration of the print quality of the document. In order to prevent such quality deterioration, the present invention can print the coded pattern only for a preset area such as upper left, lower left, upper right or lower right of the medium.

Furthermore, the present invention can reduce the deterioration of print quality by printing the coded pattern while minimizing the droplet size of the ink.

6 is a view showing a coded pattern according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , according to the present invention, a coded pattern may be represented by varying the number of dots printed for each pixel.

As a result, the coded pattern is printed by various combinations of the number of printed dots, the number and position of pixels, and print colors under the condition that the print quality is maintained at a certain level or more, and information about these various combinations is displayed in a lookup table is stored in Later, the controller can efficiently determine the location of the portable printer by using the lookup table and the sensing value recognized by the sensor.

7 is a diagram conceptually illustrating horizontal printing and non-horizontal printing.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the present invention supports horizontal printing 710 and non-horizontal printing 720 . Referring to the horizontal printing 710 , the medium 710 is placed in a horizontal direction on the ground, and the print head 711 ejects the ink vertically toward the medium 710 .

Referring to the non-horizontal direction printing 720 , the medium 720 forms an inclined surface rising to the right, and the print head 721 rotates to be perpendicular to the ground. In this case, the position of the nozzle included in the print head may be converted and controlled assuming that the medium is placed in the horizontal direction.

In addition, the present invention provides a maximum allowable threshold angle for non-horizontal movement, generating a warning signal when the threshold angle is exceeded, and stopping printing during the movement. In addition, when printing on a non-horizontal or inclined medium within a critical angle, the nozzles of the print head are converted to horizontal, and the nozzle positions are changed to jet.

Although not shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 , embodiments of the present invention may track the location (absolute coordinates) or movement speed of the portable printer using a mobile device or computer installed with an application for controlling the portable printer. Such a mobile device or computer may track the position (absolute coordinates) or movement speed of the portable printer, and provide the tracking result to the portable printer, which controls the printing process based on the information provided by the mobile device or computer. .

For example, a mobile device (cell phone) may use a camera installed in itself to photograph a portable printer placed on or near the medium in real time, and the mobile device (cell phone) may determine the real-time location (absolute coordinates) of the portable printer or Movement speed can be tracked.

The device described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and/or a combination of the hardware component and the software component. For example, devices and components described in the embodiments may include, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable array (FPA), It may be implemented using one or more general purpose or special purpose computers, such as a programmable logic unit (PLU), microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications running on the operating system. A processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to execution of the software. For convenience of understanding, although one processing device is sometimes described as being used, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the processing device includes a plurality of processing elements and/or a plurality of types of processing elements. It can be seen that can include For example, the processing device may include a plurality of processors or one processor and one controller. Other processing configurations are also possible, such as parallel processors.

Software may comprise a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more thereof, which configures a processing device to operate as desired or is independently or collectively processed You can command the device. The software and/or data may be any kind of machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage medium or apparatus, to be interpreted by or to provide instructions or data to the processing device. may be embodied in The software may be distributed over networked computer systems and stored or executed in a distributed manner. Software and data may be stored in one or more computer-readable recording media.

As described above, although the embodiments have been described with reference to the limited embodiments and drawings, various modifications and variations are possible from the above description by those skilled in the art. For example, the described techniques are performed in an order different from the described method, and/or the described components of the system, structure, apparatus, circuit, etc. are combined or combined in a different form than the described method, or other components Or substituted or substituted by equivalents may achieve an appropriate result.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (16)

A portable printer for printing a document on a medium, comprising:
portable housing;
a controller mounted on the portable housing and controlling printing;
a sensor for measuring the position of the portable printer; and
A print head mounted on the portable housing and outputting ink in response to a signal received from the controller
including,
the controller is
A portable printer that identifies a position or speed of the portable printer using the sensor, and prints the document on the medium according to a preset overlapping prevention algorithm based on the identified position or speed. According to claim 1,
the controller is
and printing a predetermined coded pattern on the medium during the process of printing the document or before starting to print the document. 3. The method of claim 2,
the controller is
and estimating the position or speed of the portable printer using the coded pattern sensed by the sensor, and executing the overlap prevention algorithm based on the position or speed of the portable printer. 3. The method of claim 2,
The coded pattern is
It is defined through the number of pixels from which the ink is ejected, the coordinates of the pixels from which the ink is ejected, the amount of ejected ink, or a combination thereof,
The information on the pixels from which the ink has been ejected is stored in a lookup table managed and accessible by the controller. 3. The method of claim 2,
The coded pattern is
A portable printer that prints under the condition that the deterioration of the print quality of the document is made within a preset range. 6. The method of claim 5,
The coded pattern is
A portable printer that is printed in at least a corner area of the document, or in a way that minimizes ink drops. According to claim 1,
the controller is
Execute the anti-overlapping algorithm according to the multi-pass printing method,
A portable printer to which a different color is applied to each pass when the coded pattern is printed according to a multi-pass printing method. 8. The method of claim 7,
When the coded pattern is printed according to the multi-pass printing method,
the controller is
A portable printer for compensating for an under-ejection amount of ink generated during the printing process of the previous passes during the printing process of the last pass of the plurality of passes. According to claim 1,
The overlap prevention algorithm is installed and executed in the controller,
A portable printer for controlling overlapping printing of the document within a preset threshold range despite irregular movement of the portable printer. According to claim 1,
The sensor is a portable printer comprising at least one of an image sensor, an optical sensor, a UV sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor. 3. The method of claim 2,
The sensor is disposed on the front/rear side or left/right side of the printer head to sense the coded pattern, and the controller is a portable printer for estimating at least one of coordinates, speed, and movement distance of the portable printer. According to claim 1,
the controller is
A portable printer for controlling the print head based on a moving speed of the portable printer. 5. The method of claim 4,
The coded pattern is
A portable printer that prints in a color determined based on a color of content included in the document or a mood of the content. According to claim 1,
the medium is
At least one of paper, wood, plastic, metal, fiber, or concrete structures,
The printing direction of the printing is a portable printer, characterized in that horizontal, non-horizontal or vertical. 15. The method of claim 14,
When the printing direction is non-horizontal, the nozzles of the print head are controlled in terms of the printing direction being horizontal. 15. The method of claim 14,
When the print direction is non-horizontal, it is determined whether the print head is within a preset critical angle range, and a warning signal is generated based on the determination result.

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