CN110877487B - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, information processing apparatus, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, an information processing apparatus, and a storage medium, which can set at least one of a placement direction and an initial position of the image forming apparatus on a print medium. The image forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized by comprising an image forming part (24) for forming an image on a medium (12); a scan information acquisition unit (64) that acquires scan information regarding the scanning of the image forming unit with respect to an image to be formed; a position information acquisition unit (34) for acquiring position information of the image forming unit, and a control unit (62) for controlling an image forming operation of the image forming unit based on the scan information and the position information.

Description

Image forming apparatus, image forming method, information processing apparatus, and storage medium

Technical Field

The invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming method, an information processing apparatus, and a storage medium.

Background

When a user uses a smartphone or a notebook computer at a destination, the user may want to print a document or the like with a printer. In addition, there is a demand for printing various kinds of information on an object that is difficult to set in a general printer.

In response to such a demand, a droplet discharge apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as HHP: hand-held printer) which is miniaturized by removing a paper conveyance system from a printing apparatus is known (for example, see patent document 1). Patent document 1 discloses an HHP in which, when a user scans (moves) a paper surface such as a notebook while holding the HHP, own positional information on the paper surface is detected, and ink for forming an image is ejected based on the positional information.

However, the HHPs heretofore have had a problem that the orientation or initial position of the HHP to be placed on the print medium cannot be set. In addition, the HHP receives images from the image output device and starts printing from an initial position determined by the user. In general, the user places the HHPs on the print medium in an orientation in which the nozzles are arranged in the longitudinal direction, and scans from left to right as viewed from the user (hereinafter, this scanning direction is simply referred to as a lateral scan). This is because, for example, in the case of an image including characters, many horizontal writings are performed, and the user is easy to scan. On the other hand, even if printing is started by horizontal scanning, vertical scanning is possible by the user simply rotating the HHP by 90 degrees and changing the direction. However, when the rotation angle is increased, errors are easily included in the position information of the HHP, which causes a problem that the image quality is degraded or the user is difficult to scan.

In the case of horizontal scanning, the upper left corner of the image is the initial position of the HHP, but depending on how the user holds the HHP, the state of the print medium, and the like, the initial position that is easy to scan may be other than the upper left corner. However, conventionally, no consideration has been given to the case where the user selects the initial position of the HHP.

[ patent document 1 ] Japanese Kokai publication No. 2010-522650

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of setting at least one of a setting direction and an initial position of the image forming apparatus on a printing medium.

In view of the above problem, an aspect of the present invention provides an image forming apparatus including: an image forming section that forms an image on a medium; a scan information acquiring unit that acquires scan information regarding a scan of the image forming unit with respect to an image to be formed; and a control unit that controls an image forming operation of the image forming unit based on the scan information and the position information.

The invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of setting at least one of a setting direction and an initial position of the image forming apparatus on a printing medium.

Drawings

FIGS. 1(a) to 1(c) are explanatory diagrams showing an example of the orientation and initial position of a HHP placed on a print medium.

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing image formation of HHPs in a patterned manner.

Fig. 3 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of HHP.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the control unit.

Fig. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image output device.

Fig. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the image outputter and the control unit in a block form.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram of nozzle positions and the like in the IJ recording head.

Fig. 8(a) and 8(b) are explanatory diagrams illustrating a coordinate system of HHPs and a calculation method of position information.

Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between the target discharge position and the positional information of the nozzle.

Fig. 10(a) and 10(b) are explanatory diagrams showing initial positions of HHPs in the related art.

Fig. 11(a) -11 (d) are explanatory illustrations showing the orientation of HHPs set in the print medium.

Fig. 12(a) to 12(d) are views showing an example of a scanning direction setting screen displayed on the image output device.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing initial positions easy for the user to use and initial settings of HHPs to be placed on the print medium.

Fig. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen displayed on the image output device.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of displaying the scanning direction setting screen by the image output device.

Fig. 16 is a transition diagram illustrating the system state of HHPs.

Fig. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is at the upper left corner and the orientation set in the printing medium is D3.

Fig. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is at the upper left corner and the orientation set in the printing medium is D4.

Fig. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is at the upper left corner and the orientation set in the printing medium is D2.

Fig. 20(a) and 20(b) are explanatory diagrams showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is at the upper right corner and the orientation set in the printing medium is D1.

Fig. 21(a) to 21(d) are explanatory diagrams showing effects when printing is performed on a notebook-shaped printing medium.

Fig. 22(a) -22 (c) are explanatory diagrams showing effects of starting printing from an arbitrary position of an image.

Fig. 23(a) and 23(b) are explanatory diagrams showing a scanning direction setting screen and coordinate conversion for allowing a user to set an arbitrary position of an image at an initial position.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of the single-path mode.

Fig. 25 is an explanatory diagram of the multipath pattern.

Fig. 26 is an exemplary view of a scanning direction setting screen displayed by the image output device.

Fig. 27(a) to 27(c) are explanatory diagrams showing an example of scanning for converting characters written in the vertical direction.

Fig. 28(a) -28 (c) are illustrations showing one orientation in which the HHP is placed on the print medium in the single-path mode.

Fig. 29 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the image outputter when the vertical scanning is performed in the single-path mode.

Fig. 30 is a flowchart illustration showing the operation steps of the image outputter and HHP.

Fig. 31 is a flowchart illustration for explaining the HHP processing based on the information on the scan.

FIG. 32 is a schematic view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an image forming method performed by a droplet discharge apparatus and an image output device, a program executed by the image output device, and the like will be described as examples of embodiments for carrying out the present invention with reference to the drawings.

< initial position and orientation of HHP set on print Medium pertaining to the present embodiment >

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the orientation and initial position of the HHP20 placed on the print medium. Fig. 1(a) shows an example of the orientation and initial position of the HHP20 placed on the print medium for lateral scanning. When the user scans horizontally from left to right, HHPs 20 are often arranged at the upper left corner of image area 80 (including the top left vertex and the peripheral area of the vertex), as shown in fig. 1 (a).

Fig. 1(b) shows an example of the orientation and initial position of the HHP20 placed on the print medium for vertical scanning. In the present embodiment, the user can place the HHP20 laterally back on the print medium and be disposed at the upper left corner of the image area 80 as shown in fig. 1(b) when scanning vertically from the top down as viewed from the user. The upper end of the nozzle 71 becomes the origin of the image area 80.

Since the scanning direction as viewed from the user is also determined after the orientation and initial position of placement on the print medium are determined, the user can determine the initial position and orientation of HHP20 based on the direction in which the user is scanning. For example, in the initial position and the orientation of placement on the print medium shown in fig. 1(b), longitudinally written characters can be printed in longitudinal scanning from the start of initial printing.

In fig. 1(a) and (b), the initial position is the upper left corner as in the conventional case, but in the present embodiment, the user can set an arbitrary position of the image area 80 as the initial position. Fig. 1(c) shows an example of the initial position of the HHP20 that can be set by the user. For example, when the scanning direction from the bottom up direction from the user's perspective is easy to print (e.g., when the notebook is opened up and down from the user's perspective and scans upward from the center of the notebook), the user may place HHP20 laterally on print medium 12, as shown in fig. 1(c), and set the lower right corner of image area 80 as the initial position.

In this way, in the present embodiment, since the combination of the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of the print medium 12 can be arbitrarily set, the user can scan in the direction in which the user can easily scan from the initial position at which the user can easily scan.

< about the term >

The scanning information of the droplet ejection apparatus is information on how to scan the HHP 20. In the present embodiment, for example, at least one of the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of the print medium 12.

The conversion of the positional information of the discharge nozzle is to convert the positional information detected by the HHP20 into other positional information. The positional information is one-dimensional or two-dimensional coordinates.

The system state is an internal state related to the operation of the HHP. In each state, the action performed by the HHP is deterministic, and the transition condition from one state to another is deterministic.

< image formation by HHP >

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing image formation of HHP20 in a patterned manner. In the HHP20, for example, an image of a formation target and information on scanning are transmitted from the image outputter 11. The information on the scanning includes, for example, the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 placed on the print medium, the scanning pattern information (single path pattern, multi-path pattern), the number of scanning paths (in the case of single path pattern), the cancellation of the print job, or the retry of the print job.

The HHP20 and the image output device 11, and the program operating in the HHP20 and the image output device 11 are referred to as a droplet discharge system 100. The user holds the HHP20 for free-hand scanning in a manner that the HHP20 does not float off of the print medium 12 (e.g., a set paper or notebook, etc.).

The image output device 11 may be any information processing device having a function of performing wireless or wired communication with the HHP 20. Examples of the image output device 11 include a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PC (personal computer), a pda (personal digital assistant), a mobile phone, a handheld terminal, a wearable PC (e.g., watch type, sunglasses type), a portable game machine, a car navigation system, a digital camera, a projector, a video conference terminal, and an unmanned aerial vehicle.

As described later, the HHP20 detects the position information by the navigation sensor and the gyro sensor, and ejects ink of a color to be ejected at the target ejection position when the HHP20 moves to the target ejection position. Since the position where ink has been ejected is hidden (because it is not the object of the ejection of ink), the user can form an image by causing HHP20 to scan in any direction as viewed from the user on print medium 12.

The preferred manner in which the HHP20 does not float off the print medium 12 is because the navigation sensor detects the amount of movement using reflected light from the print medium 12. If the HHP20 floats from the print medium 12, the reflected light cannot be detected, and the amount of movement cannot be detected. A set of images of Pn lines and the like that can be formed by 1 scan is formed based on a certain initial position. If the HHP20 is in a state where position information cannot be detected during the formation of a group of images, the user instructs the image outputter 11 to cancel or retry.

Since HHP20 ejects ink onto print medium 12 to form an image, it may be referred to as an inkjet printer. The ejected fluid is not limited to ink, and may be referred to as a droplet ejection device as long as it is in a liquid state at least at the time of ejection. Further, since an image is formed, it may be referred to as an image forming apparatus or a printing apparatus, and since an image is processed, it may be referred to as an image processing apparatus. The HHP20 is portable when held by a hand of a user, and is therefore sometimes referred to as hmp (handmobilephrinter).

In the present embodiment, the HHP20 for forming an image by ejecting ink was described, but the HHP20 may form an image by a thermal transfer method or by a dot impact method. The thermal transfer method may be a method of transferring the ink ribbon to the print medium 12 by a thermal head, or a method of developing color on the print medium 12 by a thermal head using thermal paper. In addition, in the click-and-print mode, an image can be formed on a duplicate form such as a delivery slip or a slip at a time.

The print medium 12 may have a flat surface in a part thereof. The plane may be a curved surface. For example, paper, a notebook, and the like can be cited. The print medium may be either horizontal or vertical to the table or floor. The print medium 12 is not limited to a sheet-like shape, and the HHP20 can form an image on a wall, ceiling, or the like. For example, printing may be performed on the side, bottom, top, or the like of the corrugated cardboard. Further, printing may be performed on a three-dimensional object fixed to the floor or a facility.

< construction example >

《HHP》

Fig. 3 shows an example of a hardware configuration of HHP 20. The HHP20 controls the overall operation by the control unit 25, and the communication I/F27, the IJ recording head drive circuit 23, the OPU26, the ROM28, the DRAM29, the navigation sensor 30, and the gyro sensor 31 are electrically connected to the control unit 25. Further, since the HHP20 is driven by electric power, it includes the power supply 22 and the power supply circuit 21. The power generated by the power supply circuit 21 is supplied to the communication I/F27, the IJ recording head drive circuit 23, the OPU26, the ROM28, the DRAM29, the IJ recording head 24, the control unit 25, the navigation sensor 30, and the gyro sensor 31 through a wiring indicated by a broken line 22a, and the like.

A battery is mainly used as the power source 22. The battery may be a commercially available dry battery or a rechargeable battery, or may be a dedicated rechargeable battery. Solar cells, commercial power supplies (ac power supplies), fuel cells, and the like may also be used. The power supply circuit 21 distributes the power supplied by the power supply 22 to various portions of the HHP 20. The voltage of the power supply 22 is stepped down or stepped up to a voltage suitable for each unit. When the power source 22 is a rechargeable battery, the power source circuit 21 detects the connection of the ac power source and connects the battery to a charging circuit, thereby enabling the power source 22 to be charged.

The communication I/F27 receives an image from an image output device 11 such as a smartphone or a pc (personal computer). The communication I/F27 is a communication device that corresponds to a communication standard such as wireless LAN, bluetooth (registered trademark), nfc (near field communication), infrared, 3G (mobile phone), or lte (long term evolution), for example. In addition to such wireless communication, a communication device corresponding to wired communication using a wired LAN, a USB cable, or the like may be used.

The ROM28 stores firmware for performing hardware control of the HHP20, drive waveform data (data defining voltage changes for ejecting droplets) of the IJ recording head 24, initial setting data of the HHP20, and the like.

The DRAM29 is used for storage of images received by the communication I/F27, or storage of firmware developed from the ROM 28. Therefore, the CPU33 is used as a work memory when executing firmware.

The navigation sensor 30 is a sensor that detects the movement amount of the HHP20 every predetermined period. The navigation sensor 30 includes a light source such as a Light Emitting Diode (LED) or a laser, and an image pickup sensor that picks up an image of the print medium 12. As the HHP20 scans over the print medium 12, minute edges of the print medium 12 are continuously detected (imaged), and the amount of movement is obtained by analyzing the distance between the edges. In the present embodiment, only one navigation sensor 30 is mounted on the bottom surface of the HHP 20. There may be two navigation sensors 30. When there are two navigation sensors 30, the HHP20 can detect the rotation angle. In the present embodiment, the rotation angle is detected by the gyro sensor 31. Further, as the navigation sensor 30, a multi-axis acceleration sensor may be used, and the HHP20 may detect the movement amount of the HHP20 by only the acceleration sensor.

The gyro sensor 31 is a sensor that detects an angular velocity when the HHP20 rotates about an axis perpendicular to the printing medium 12. The control unit 25 integrates the angular velocity to calculate the posture of the HHP 20. The posture is a rotation angle of the HHP20 with respect to an axis perpendicular to the print medium 12. An example of the reference of the rotation angle is the longitudinal direction of the HHP20 at the start of printing.

The opu (operationpanel unit)26 has an LED for displaying the status of the HHP20, a switch for the user to instruct image formation on the HHP20, and the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a liquid crystal display may be provided, and a touch panel may be further provided. In addition, a voice input function may be provided. OPU26 has print button 26 a. The print button 26a is a button for accepting the start of printing.

The IJ recording head drive circuit 23 generates a drive waveform (voltage) for driving the IJ recording head 24 using the drive waveform data described above. A drive waveform corresponding to the size of the droplet of ink or the like can be generated.

The IJ recording head 24 is a head for ejecting ink. In the figure, 4 colors of ink such as CMYK can be ejected, but a single color may be used, or 5 or more types of ink may be ejected. The plurality of ink ejection nozzles 71 (ejection units) arranged in a row are arranged in a row (may be 2 rows or more) for each color. The ink discharge method may be a piezoelectric method, a temperature difference method, or another method. The IJ recording head 24 is a functional component that ejects and ejects liquid from the nozzles 71. The liquid to be discharged is not particularly limited as long as it can be discharged from the head and has viscosity and surface tension, and is preferably a liquid having viscosity of 30MPa · s or less at normal temperature and pressure or at heating and cooling. More specifically, the present invention relates to a solution, suspension, emulsion, etc. of a solvent such as water or an organic solvent, a colorant such as a dye or a pigment, a functional imparting material such as a polymerizable compound, a resin, or a surfactant, a biocompatible material such as DNA, amino acid, protein, or calcium, an edible material such as a natural pigment, etc., and they can be used for applications such as an ink for ink jet, a surface treatment liquid, a liquid for forming a resist pattern of an electronic device or a light-emitting device, a liquid for forming a resist pattern of an electronic circuit, a material liquid for three-dimensional modeling, and the like.

The controller 25 has a CPU33 and controls the entirety of the HHP 20. The control unit 25 determines the positional information of each nozzle 71 of the IJ recording head 24, an image formed from the positional information, and the possibility or absence of discharge nozzles, which will be described later, based on the movement amount detected by the navigation sensor 30 and the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor 31. The control unit 25 is described in detail below.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the configuration of the control unit 25. The control section 25 has a SoC50 and an ASIC/FPGA 40. The SoC50 and ASIC/FPGA40 communicate over the buses 46, 47. ASIC/FPGA40 can be designed using any assembly technique and can be constructed using other assembly techniques besides ASIC/FPGA 40. Note that SoC50 and ASIC/FPGA40 may not be separate chips but may be formed of one chip or substrate. Alternatively, three or more chips or substrates may be mounted.

The SoC50 has functions of a CPU33, a position calculation circuit 34, a memory CTL (controller) 35, and a romtl (controller) 36, etc., which are connected via a bus 47. The constituent elements of SoC50 are not limited to these.

The ASIC/FPGA40 includes an ImageRAM37, a DMAC38, a rotator 39, an interrupt controller 41, a navigation sensor I/F42, a print/sensor timing generator 43, an IJ recording head controller 44, and a gyro sensor I/F45, which are connected via a bus 46. The constituent elements of the ASIC/FPGA40 are not limited to these.

The CPU33 executes firmware (programs) and the like developed from the ROM28 to the DRAM29, and controls the operations of the position calculating circuit 34, the memory CTL35, and the romtl 36 within the SoC 50. The operations of the ImageRAM37, DMAC38, rotator 39, interrupt controller 41, navigation sensor I/F42, print/sensor timing generator 43, IJ recording head controller 44, gyro sensor I/F45, and the like in the ASIC/FPGA40 are also controlled.

The position calculation circuit 34 calculates the position information (e.g., coordinates) of the HHP20 based on the amount of movement per sampling period detected by the navigation sensor 30 and the angular velocity per sampling period detected by the gyro sensor 31. The position information of the HHP20 is strictly the position information of the nozzle 71, and if the position information of the navigation sensor 30 is known, the position information of the nozzle 71 can be calculated. The position calculating circuit 34 may be implemented by software by the CPU 33.

The position information of the navigation sensor 30 is calculated, for example, with reference to a predetermined origin (initial position of the HHP20 when image formation is started), as will be described later. The position calculation circuit 34 estimates the moving direction and the acceleration from the difference between the past position information and the latest position information, and predicts the position information of the navigation sensor 30 at the next ejection timing, for example. In this way, the user can eject ink while suppressing delay in scanning.

Memory CTL35 is an interface with DRAM29, requests from DRAM29 and sends the fetched firmware to CPU33 or sends the fetched image to ASIC/FPGA 40.

The romtl 36 is an interface with the ROM28, requests data from the ROM28, and transmits the acquired data to the CPU33 or the ASIC/FPGA 40.

The rotator 39 rotates the image acquired by the DMAC38 in accordance with the head from which ink is ejected, the nozzle position in the head, and mounting errors. The DMAC38 outputs the rotated image to the IJ head control section 44.

ImageRAM37 temporarily stores images acquired by DMAC 38. That is, a certain degree of images are buffered and read out based on the position information of the HHP 20.

The IJ head control unit 44 performs a dithering process or the like on the image (for example, in Tiff format) to convert the image into a set of dots representing the image in size and density. Thus, the image is data of the ejection position and the dot size. The IJ recording head control section 44 outputs a control signal corresponding to the size of the dot to the IJ recording head drive circuit 23.

The IJ recording head drive circuit 23 generates a drive waveform (voltage) using the drive waveform data corresponding to the control signal as described above.

The navigation sensor I/F42 communicates with the navigation sensor 30, receives the movement amounts Δ X ', Δ Y' (which will be described later) as information from the navigation sensor 30, and stores the values thereof in an internal register.

The print/sensor timing generation section 43 notifies the navigation sensor I/F42 and the gyro sensor I/F45 of the timing to read information, and notifies the IJ recording head control section 44 of the driving timing. The period of the timing of reading the information is longer than the period of the ejection timing of the ink. The IJ recording head control unit 44 determines whether or not the ejection nozzle is possible, and determines that ink is ejected if there is a target ejection position at which ink is to be ejected, and determines that ink is not ejected if there is no target ejection position.

At the timing generated by the print/sensor timing generation unit 43, the gyro sensor I/F45 obtains the angular velocity detected by the gyro sensor 31, and stores the value in the register.

The interrupt controller 41 detects completion of communication between the navigation sensor I/F42 and the navigation sensor 30, and outputs an interrupt signal for notifying it to the SoC 50. The CPU33 obtains Δ X 'and Δ Y' stored in the internal register by the navigation sensor I/F42 in response to the interrupt. Further, the system also has a status notification function of an error or the like. Similarly, the interrupt controller 41 outputs an interrupt signal for notifying the end of communication with the gyro sensor 31 to the SoC50 in the gyro sensor I/F45.

Image output device

Fig. 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of the image outputter 11. The illustrated image outputter 11 includes a CPU201, a flash ROM202, a RAM203, a wireless communication module 204, an antenna 205, a camera 206, an LCD207, a touch panel 208, an external I/F209, a microphone 210, and a speaker 211. These are connected to a bus 212 for data exchange. The image output device 11 includes a battery 213 to supply power to the above-described devices.

The CPU201 controls the entire image output device 11 by arithmetic processing of various data and the like in accordance with a program stored in the flash ROM 202. The flash ROM202 stores a program 202p for controlling the entire image output device 11, and also serves as a memory for storing various data. Program 202p is an application that is developed to enable HHP20 to function properly.

The RAM203 is used as a work memory of the CPU 201. The program 202p stored in the flash ROM202 is read into the RAM203 and executed by the CPU 201.

The wireless communication module 204 communicates with the HHP20 through bluetooth (registered trademark), wireless LAN, NFC, infrared rays, or the like. Voice communication or data communication using a mobile phone line such as 3G or LTE can also be performed.

The camera 206 performs a/D conversion on an image signal output from the image pickup element. The LCD207 displays icons for operating the image outputter 11 and various data. The touch panel 208 is overlapped with and brought into close contact with the LCD20, and detects position information of the contact position of the finger.

The external I/F209 is, for example, a USB interface, which is an interface for connecting an external device. The microphone 210 performs a (analog)/D (digital) conversion on an input audio signal. The speaker 211D/a converts sound data and outputs an audible signal.

< about function >

Fig. 6 is a functional block diagram showing the functions of the image outputter 11 and the control section 25 in a block form.

Image output device

The image output device 11 has functions of a communication unit 51, a display control unit 52, an operation reception unit 53, a print control unit 54, an image processing unit 55, a storage unit 59, and the like. These functional portions of the image outputter 11 are functions or means that are realized by the CPU201 executing the program 202p in cooperation with hardware shown in fig. 5. The program 202p may be transferred from a server for program transfer, or may be distributed in a state of being stored in a removable storage medium such as a USB memory or an optical storage medium.

The communication unit 51 transmits and receives various information to and from the HHP 2. In the present embodiment, information on images and scans is transmitted to the HHP20, and the system status (standby, warm-up, printing (ready for printing, in image forming operation, end of image forming operation), etc.) is received from the HHP 20. The communication section 51 is realized by the CPU201 executing a program 202p developed from the flash ROM202 into the RAM203 and controlling a wireless communication module and the like.

The display control unit 52 performs control related to display of various screens displayed on the LCD 207. In the present embodiment, a scan direction setting screen or the like is displayed to receive the initial position and the orientation of the print medium. The display control section 52 is realized by the CPU201 executing a program 202p developed from the flash ROM202 into the RAM203 and controlling the LCD207 and the like.

The operation receiving unit 53 receives various operations of the image output device 11 by the user. In the present embodiment, the initial position, the orientation of the sheet placed on the printing medium, and the like are accepted. The operation receiving unit 53 is realized by the CPU201 executing a program 202p developed from the flash ROM202 into the RAM203 and controlling the touch panel 208 and the like.

The print control section 54 performs control related to printing of an image. That is, control is performed regarding communication of the HHP20, generation of an image, interruption/reopening of printing, and the like. The print control section 54 is realized by the CPU201 executing a program 202p or the like developed from the flash ROM202 into the RAM 203.

The image processing unit 55 converts the text data into vertical writing using a vertical writing font at the time of printing the text data. Alternatively, after the text data is changed into an image, each character is rotated by 90 degrees. The image processing section 55 is realized by the CPU201 executing a program 202p or the like developed from the flash ROM202 into the RAM 203.

The storage section 59 stores an image 591. Image 591 may be in any file format, and may be, for example, an image file of TIFF, JPEG, BMP, or the like. Alternatively, the print data may be print data (PostScript, PDF, etc.) described in PDL (PageDescriptionLanguage).

Control section

The control section 25 includes an information acquisition control section 61, a position management section 62, a start processing section 63, a communication section 64, an image storage section 65, a print control section 66, a state control section 67, and a display control section 68. These functions of the control section 25 are functions or means realized by the CPU33 shown in fig. 4 executing a program stored in the ROM 28.

The communication section 64 communicates with the image outputter 11, and transmits and receives various information. In the present embodiment, information on the image and the scan is received from the image output device 11, and the system status is transmitted to the image output device 11.

The image storage unit 65 is a storage means for images constructed by the ImageRAM37 or the like, and the images received by the communication unit 64 are stored in the image storage unit 65.

The information acquisition control unit 61 determines whether or not the timing to acquire information detected by the sensors from the various sensors is the timing to acquire information, and if the timing is the timing to acquire information, acquires information from each sensor.

The position management unit 62 controls the image forming operation of the HHP 20. That is, the origin is determined in accordance with the user's operation for printing start, and the position information of the nozzles 71 calculated by the position calculating circuit 34 is converted into the position information suitable for the initial position and the orientation placed on the printing medium in accordance with the initial position and the orientation placed on the printing medium. In some transformations, the location manager 62 converts the coordinate system of the HHP20 to the coordinate system of the image. Details will be described later.

The state control unit 67 controls the system state of the HHP 20. The system status includes i.standby, ii.warm-up, iii.printing (iv. print ready, v. image forming operation, vi. image forming operation end), and the like. For example, when the press of the print button 26a, the timeout of the stationary state, the detection of the floating, or the outside of the image area is detected, the system state is transitioned from the image forming operation to the end of the image forming operation.

When the user scans with HHP20, print control section 66 performs control of IJ head drive circuit 23 using the image, based on the position information of nozzles 71 converted by position management section 62.

When the HHP20 is powered on, the startup processing unit 63 executes processing necessary for startup, such as initialization of hardware and detection of the state of each hardware. The display controller 68 generates information displayed on the OPU26 and displays the information on the OPU 26.

< relating to nozzle position in IJ recording head >

Next, nozzle positions and the like in the IJ recording head 24 will be described with reference to fig. 7. FIG. 7 shows the bottom surface of HHP 20. The bottom surface is a surface facing the printing medium 12.

In fig. 7, a HHP20 is shown with 1 navigation sensor 30. The distance from the navigation sensor 30 to the IJ recording head 24 is a. The distance a may also be zero (in contact with the IJ recording head 24). When the number of the navigation sensors 30 is 1, the navigation sensors 30 may be located at any position around the IJ recording head 24. The illustrated position information of the navigation sensor 30 is one example. However, when the distance between the IJ recording head 24 and the navigation sensor 30 is short, the size of the bottom surface of the HHP20 is easily reduced.

When the number of the navigation sensors 30 is 2, the longer the distance between the 2 navigation sensors 30 is, the higher the detection accuracy of the rotation angle is. Therefore, although it is preferable to arrange 2 navigation sensors 30 in the long-side direction of the HHP20, the navigation sensors 30 may be arranged in any position around the IJ recording head 24 when the number of the navigation sensors 30 is 2.

The distance from the end of the IJ recording head 24 to the first nozzle 71 is a distance d, and the distance between adjacent nozzles 71 is a distance e. The values of a to e are stored in advance in the ROM28 or the like.

If the position calculation circuit 34 or the like calculates the position information of the navigation sensor 30 and detects the inclination by the gyro sensor, the position calculation circuit 34 can calculate an arbitrary nozzle position of the nozzle 71 using the distance a, the distance d, and the distance e.

The nozzle 71 is close to the upper side in the longitudinal direction of the HHP20 when the user looks overhead. This is because the user can easily and intuitively hold the positional information of the nozzle 71 when holding the HHP 20. However, the nozzle 71 may be disposed in the center of the HHP20 or elsewhere.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the arrangement direction of the nozzles 71 coincides with the longitudinal direction of the HHP 20. Of course, the nozzle 71 is fixed to the HHP 20. Therefore, if the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 is determined, the orientation of the nozzles 71 when placed on the print medium 12 is also determined.

The nozzle 71 has N nozzles 71. The HHP20 calculates position information for each nozzle 71, as the nozzles 1, 2, …, and N are sequentially numbered from the center of each nozzle 71. The number of the nozzles 71 may be given in order from the upper end. If the distance e is constant, the higher the number of N nozzles 71, the higher the resolution of the image. For example, N may be 192, but N is not limited to 192.

< location information on HHP in print Medium >

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of calculating the coordinate system and the position information of the HHP 20. In the present embodiment, the horizontal direction in the print medium 12 is defined as the X axis, and the vertical direction is defined as the Y axis. The origin is the position information of the nozzle N or the nozzle 1 at the start of printing. This coordinate is referred to as a print medium coordinate. In contrast, the navigation sensor 30 outputs the movement amount on the coordinate axes (X 'axis and Y' axis) of fig. 8. That is, the movement amount is output with the arrangement direction of the nozzles 71 as the Y ' axis and the direction orthogonal to the Y ' axis as the X ' axis.

As shown in fig. 8(a), the case where the HHP20 is rotated in the clockwise direction θ with respect to the print medium 12 will be described as an example. Since it is difficult for the user to cause HHP20 to scan completely without tilting relative to the print medium coordinates, θ that is not zero may be generated. If there is no rotation at all, then X ═ X ', Y ═ Y'. However, when the HHP20 is rotated relative to the print medium 12 by the rotational angle θ, the output of the navigation sensor 30 does not coincide with the actual position information in the print medium 12 of the HHP 20. The rotation angle θ is positive in the clockwise direction, X, X 'is positive in the right direction, and Y, Y' is positive in the downward direction.

FIG. 8(a) is an explanatory illustration of the X coordinate of HHP 20. Shown in fig. 8(a) is the correspondence of the movement amounts Δ X ', Δ Y', and X, Y detected by the navigation sensor 30 when the navigation sensor 30 is moved from t1 to t2 at the same rotation angle θ with the rotation angle θ being only HHP20 in the X direction. In addition, in the case where there are two navigation sensors 30, since the relative positions are fixed, the outputs (moving amounts) of the 2 navigation sensors 30 are the same. The X coordinate of the navigation sensor 30 changes in the positive direction to X1+ X2. X1+ X2 is obtained from Δ X ', Δ Y' and rotation angle θ.

Shown in fig. 8(b) is the correspondence of the rotation angle θ only to the amounts of movement Δ X ', Δ Y', and X, Y detected by the navigation sensor 30 when the HHP20 is moved from t1 to t2 in the Y direction by the same rotation angle θ. The Y coordinate of the navigation sensor 30 changes in the positive direction to Y1+ Y2. Y1+ Y2 is obtained from Δ X ', Δ Y' and rotation angle θ.

Therefore, when the HHP20 is moved in the X direction and the Y direction with the rotation angle θ kept constant, Δ X ', Δ Y' output from the navigation sensor 30 can be converted into X, Y of the print medium coordinates as follows.

X ═ Δ X 'cos θ - Δ Y' sin θ … formula (1)

Y ═ Δ X 'sin θ + Δ Y' cos θ … formula (2)

< rotation angle theta >

Next, a method of calculating the rotation angle θ using the output of the gyro sensor 31 will be described. The output of the gyro sensor 31 is an angular velocity ω.

Since ω is d θ/dt, when dt is the sampling period, the rotation angle d θ can be as follows.

dθ＝ω×dt

Therefore, the rotation angle θ at present (time t is 0 to N) is as follows.

Thus, the rotation angle θ can be obtained by the gyro sensor 31. As shown in equations (1) and (2), the rotation angle θ can be used to calculate the position information. If the positional information of the navigation sensor 30 can be calculated, the position calculation circuit 34 can calculate the coordinates of each nozzle 71 based on the values a to e shown in fig. 7. Since X in the formula (1) and Y in the formula (2) are the amounts of change in the sampling period, the current position information can be obtained by accumulating X, Y.

< target Ejection position >

Next, the target ejection position will be described with reference to fig. 9. Fig. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a relationship between the target discharge position and the positional information of the nozzle 71. The target ejection positions G1 to G9 are target positions (formation destinations of pixels) at which the HHPs 20 land ink from the nozzles 71. The target ejection positions G1 to G9 can be determined from the initial position of HHP20 and the resolution (Xdpi, Ydpi) of HHP20 in the X-axis/Y-axis directions.

For example, when the resolution is 300dpi, the target ejection positions are set at intervals of about 0.084mm in the longitudinal direction of the IJ recording head 24 and in the direction perpendicular thereto, with reference to the initial position of the HHP 20. If there are pixels ejected to the target ejection positions G1 to G9, HHP20 ejects ink.

However, in practice, it is difficult to capture the timing when the nozzle 71 and the target ejection position completely coincide with each other, and therefore the HHP20 has an error margin 73 between the target ejection position and the current position information of the nozzle 71. When the current position information of the nozzles 71 is within the range of the error margin 73 from the target ejection position, ink is ejected from the nozzles 71 (setting such a permissible range is referred to as "ejection nozzle availability determination").

As indicated by arrow 72, HHP20 monitors the moving direction and acceleration of nozzle 71, and predicts the positional information of nozzle 71 at the next ejection timing. Therefore, by comparing the predicted position information with the range of the error margin 73, it is possible to prepare for ink ejection.

< initial position of image area and HHP >

Fig. 10 is a diagram illustrating the initial position of a conventional HHP 20. Fig. 10(a) shows the scanning direction of HHP20 viewed by the user with respect to an image generated from text data, and fig. 10(b) shows image area 80 in which the image is arranged. As shown in fig. 10(b), in the conventional HHP20, the origin of the nozzle N coincides with the origin of the image area 80. Fig. 10(a) is also similar.

As shown in fig. 10(a), when the user starts scanning from the upper left corner of the print medium 12 as viewed from the user, the character "HAND" is scanned and printed by the user with the HHP20 in the + X direction.

As shown in fig. 10(b), a circumscribed rectangle of the image is referred to as an image region 80. An area determined by the maximum value Xmax of the X coordinate in the image coordinates, the maximum value Ymax of the Y coordinate in the image coordinates, and the origin (0, 0) is the image area 80. Since the image sent from the image outputter 11 to the HHP20 has already been in the format of an image, the image area 80 is known to the print control section 66. In the case of fig. 10(a), the circumscribed rectangle of "HAND" is the image region 80.

Regardless of the initial position of HHP20 and the orientation of placement on the print medium, image area 80 is always centered at the top left corner, with the right direction being the + X axis from the user's perspective and the downward direction being the + Y axis from the user's perspective. The coordinates of the image area 80 are the same as the coordinates of the image in the RAM of the HHP 20.

< initial position set by image output device and orientation placed on printing medium >)

Next, the initial position set by the image output device 11 and the orientation of the sheet placed on the printing medium 12 will be described with reference to fig. 11 and 12. The orientation is the orientation in the initial position of the HHP20 relative to the image forming subject.

First, fig. 11 is an explanatory illustration explaining the orientation of the HHP20 placed on the print medium 12. Fig. 11(a) to (d) show the orientations of HHPs 20 set by the user on the print medium 12 by the image output device 11. The orientation of the HHP20 of FIG. 11(a) is the first direction, the orientation of the HHP20 of FIG. 11(b) is the second direction, the orientation of the HHP20 of FIG. 11(c) is the third direction, and the orientation of the HHP20 of FIG. 11(d) is an example of the fourth direction.

The orientation of nozzle 71 is determined by the orientation of HHP20 placed on print medium 12. Fig. 11(a) is the same as fig. 10(a), showing the orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12. Specifically, the side on which the distance between the outer side of the HHP20 and the nozzle 71 is short is placed upward with respect to the print medium 12. The orientation of being placed on the printing medium 12 shown in fig. 11(a) is suitable for lateral scanning.

Fig. 11(b) shows the orientation in which the HHP20 of fig. 11(a) is rotated 180 degrees (opposite to the direction of the HHP20 of fig. 11 (a)) and the nozzle 1 is placed on the print medium 12 with the origin aligned. That is, the side on which the distance between the outside of the HHP20 and the nozzle 71 is close is placed downward with respect to the print medium 12. When the nozzle N coincides with the origin, in that case, even if the user scans in the right direction, ink cannot be ejected. Since the arrangement direction of the nozzles 71 is the longitudinal direction with respect to the print medium, the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 as shown in fig. 11(b) is suitable for transverse scanning. In addition, in fig. 11(b), since the nozzle 71 on the upper side close to the HHP20 reaches the user side, there is an advantage that the origin of the image area 80 can be easily matched with the desired position information of the print medium 12. Further, it is preferable that the whole of the HHP20 is scanned without going beyond the print medium 12 (because the navigation sensor 30 floats up due to the step of the print medium and the periphery), and since the nozzle 71 goes to the lower side, there is an advantage that the margin of the lower side of the print medium can be reduced (the margin of the upper side becomes larger). In the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 shown in fig. 11(a), the upper margin can be reduced (the lower margin is increased).

Fig. 11(c) shows the orientation of the HHP20 of fig. 11(a) placed on the print medium 12 after rotating it 90 degrees in the counterclockwise direction. That is, the side on which the distance between the outside of the HHP20 and the nozzle 71 is closer is left with respect to the print medium 12. Since the arrangement direction of the nozzles 71 is lateral with respect to the printing medium 12, the user who faces to the right as shown in fig. 11(c) performs longitudinal scanning. When the HHP20 is held with the right hand, it is easy to align the nozzle N with the origin of the image area 80. Further, the left margin of the print medium 12 can be reduced (the right margin is increased).

Fig. 11(d) shows an orientation in which the HHP20 of fig. 11(a) is rotated 90 degrees in the clockwise rotation direction (opposite to the direction of the HHP20 of fig. 11 (c)) and the nozzle 1 is placed on the print medium 12 in line with the origin. That is, the side on which the distance between the outside of the HHP20 and the nozzle 71 is close is rightward with respect to the print medium 12. When the nozzle N coincides with the origin, in that case, even if the user scans in the downward direction, ink cannot be ejected. Since the arrangement direction of the nozzles 71 is lateral with respect to the printing medium 12, the orientation shown in fig. 11(d) is suitable for a left-handed user to perform longitudinal scanning. In addition, the blank space on the right side of the print medium 12 can be reduced (the blank space on the left side becomes larger).

In addition, when the orientation of the user to be set on the print medium 12 is selected as in HHP20 in fig. 11(a) to (d), the initial position of HHP20 may be any of the 4 corners of the image area 80. The user can also arbitrarily determine the initial position. The initial position of the HHP20 may be the initial position of the IJ recording head 24 as the image forming section. Therefore, the orientation may be an orientation in an initial position of the IJ recording head 24 (image forming unit) with respect to the image to be formed.

Fig. 12 is an exemplary view of the scanning direction setting screen U displayed by the image output device 11. For convenience, the scanning direction setting screens U in fig. 12(a) to (d) are referred to as U1 to U4. The scanning direction setting screen U receives the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of placement on the print medium 12. The scanning direction setting screen U1 shown in FIG. 12(a) shows possible initial positions of the HHPs 20. In order for the image outputter 11 to assist the user's operation, the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of placement on the print medium 12 are initially set. In fig. 12(a), the initial position of the initial setting is the upper left corner, and the orientation of the printing medium 12 placed thereon is the portrait orientation. In addition, regarding the initial setting, it will be explained in fig. 13.

The display control section 52 of the image output device 11 displays a preview 401 of the image and a mark 403 in 4 corners of the image. An icon 402 of the HHP20 of the initial setting is displayed in one of the markers 403 of the four corners. Or the mark 403 may be highlighted.

The user may change the initial position of the initially set HHP20 or the orientation of placement on print medium 12. When the user changes the initial position of the initial setting, one of the remaining 3 marks 403 is selected, and when the orientation of the mark placed on the print medium 12 is changed, the icon 402 is selected. In the scanning direction setting screen U2 of fig. 12(b), the icon 402 is pressed. The operation receiving unit 53 of the image output device 11 receives a selection by the user.

When the icon 402 or the mark 403 is selected, the display control section 52 displays the list 404 of orientations when placed on the HHP 20. List 404 represents the preferred orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12. The HHPs 20 when placed on the print medium 12 have a total of 4 orientations as shown in fig. 11 (b). The orientations when placed on the printing medium 12 as displayed in the list 404 in fig. 12(b) are referred to as an orientation D1, an orientation D2, an orientation D3, and an orientation D4 in this order from top to bottom. Since the icon 402 in fig. 12(b) is placed on the printing medium 12 in the orientation D1, the icon is highlighted by reversing the color of the orientation D1 in the list 404. The user may select the orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12 from list 404 taking into account the locations of the horizontal scan, vertical scan, right-handed, left-handed, and blank. The operation receiving unit 53 of the image output device 11 receives a selection by the user.

Fig. 12(c) shows that the scan direction setting screen U3 directed to D4 is selected in the list 404. The operation receiving unit 53 receives the selection of the direction D4.

Fig. 12(D) shows a scanning direction setting screen U4 displayed when the direction D4 is selected. In accordance with the user operation, the display controller 52 displays the icon 402 of HHP20 oriented to D4 on the upper left corner of the image area 80. In this manner, the display control section 52 of the image output apparatus 11 displays the icon 402 of the HHP20 having the orientation and the initial position when placed on the print medium 12 on the scanning direction setting screen U4 in accordance with the user's operation.

Since the initial position is 4 patterns and the orientation of the sheet placed on the printing medium 12 is 4 patterns, the total number of combinations of the initial position and the orientation of the sheet placed on the printing medium 12 is 4 × 4 — 16.

In this manner, the user can arbitrarily set the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of placement on the print medium 12. By selecting the initial position for the preview 401 on the scanning direction setting screen U and selecting the orientation of the HHP20 when set on the print medium 12 from the list 404, the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when set on the print medium 12 can be set by such intuitive operation. The setting of fig. 12 may be performed in common in a single path mode or a multi-path mode, which will be described later.

In fig. 12, the initial position → the direction of the print medium 12 is set in this order, but the direction of the print medium 12 → the initial position may be set in this order. Further, the setting of the initial position and the setting of the orientation of the sheet placed on the printing medium 12 may be received simultaneously. In this case, the display control unit 52 displays a list of 16 modes as icons, and the operation receiving unit 53 receives settings of the initial position and the orientation of the sheet placed on the printing medium 12 at the same time.

< initial setting of initial position and orientation of printing medium placed on >

Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing initial settings of an initial position and an orientation of being placed on the printing medium 12 which are easy for the user to use. For example, in the case of japanese or english written horizontally, characters are described from left to right from the user's perspective, and further, since characters are described from the upper line to the lower line, when the user selects horizontal scanning, the display control unit 52 sets the initial position at the upper left corner of the image area 80 and sets the orientation D1, which makes it easy for the user to use.

On the other hand, in the case of japanese or chinese written vertically, characters are described from the top down from the user's perspective, and further, since characters are described from the right line to the left line, when the user selects vertical scanning, the initial position is set at the upper right corner of the image area 80, and the direction D4 is set, so that the user can easily use the vertical scanning.

As described with reference to fig. 14, since the user can easily set the vertical scanning or the horizontal scanning, when the operation receiving unit 53 receives the selection of the vertical scanning or the horizontal scanning, the display control unit 52 changes the initial setting of the initial position and the initial setting of the orientation to be set on the printing medium 12, which are displayed on the scanning direction setting screens U1 to U4 in fig. 12. When the horizontal scanning is selected, the upper left corner is set as the initial position and the direction D1 is set, and when the vertical scanning is selected, the upper right corner is set as the initial position and the direction D4 is set. In the initial position of the initial setting, the icon 402 is displayed with the HHP20 oriented downward when placed on the print medium 12 at the initial setting. In addition, the orientation of the HHP20 when set on the print medium 12 as initially set is displayed in the list 404 as highlighted.

By such initial setting, the number of setting steps (time) of the user in the scanning direction setting screen U can be reduced.

Fig. 14 is an exemplary view of the horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen 411 displayed by the image output device 11. The horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen 411 is a screen to be scanned horizontally or vertically set by the user.

The horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen 411 has radio buttons 412 and 413 corresponding to "horizontal scanning" and "vertical scanning". The user selects any one of the 2 radio buttons 412, 413. In the case where the user does not select the longitudinal scan or the lateral scan, the lateral scan is a default value.

By setting "horizontal scanning" or "vertical scanning" on the horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen 411 shown in fig. 14 by the user before the scanning direction setting screen U shown in fig. 12, the user can easily set the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the printing medium 12. In addition, when the "horizontal scanning" or the "vertical scanning" is set on the horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen 411 of fig. 14, the scanning direction setting screen U of fig. 12 may not be set if the initial setting is possible.

In addition, the horizontal scanning and the vertical scanning can be selected in either of a single-path mode and a multi-path mode, which will be described later.

Fig. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of displaying the scanning direction setting screen U by the image output device 11.

First, the operation receiving unit 53 receives a display of a scan direction setting screen (S301). The display control unit 52 determines whether or not the scanning direction is accepted on the horizontal scanning/vertical scanning setting screen 411 shown in fig. 14 (S302).

When the determination in step S302 is "no", the display controller 52 sets the horizontal scanning to be horizontal, sets the upper left corner as the initial position and the direction D1 as the initial setting, and displays the horizontal scanning on the scanning direction setting screen U1 (S303).

When the determination in step S302 is yes, since the vertical scanning is set, the display control section 52 sets the upper right corner as the initial position and the orientation D4 as the initial setting, and displays it on the scanning direction setting screen U1 (S304).

The operation reception unit 53 determines whether or not the initial position or the change in the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 is received on the scanning direction setting screen U1 (S305). If the user does not change the initial position and the orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12, the process of FIG. 15 ends.

When the operation reception unit 53 receives a change in the initial position or the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 on the scan direction setting screen U1 (yes at S305), the display control unit 52 displays the icon 402 of the HHP20 at the initial position set by the user (S306). The orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12 as shown by icon 402 may also be an initially set orientation. Icon 402 has been displayed when only the orientation of HHP20 was changed when placed on print medium 12.

Next, the display control unit 52 displays the list 404 of the orientations of the HHPs 20 when placed on the print medium 12 (S307). Accordingly, the scanning direction setting screen U2 is displayed.

Next, the operation reception unit 53 receives a change in the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 (S308). The user may sometimes not change the orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12. Upon receiving a change in the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12, the display control unit 52 displays the scan direction setting screen U3.

The display control unit 52 displays the icon 402 of the HHP of the changed initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when set on the print medium 12 (S309). Accordingly, the scanning direction setting screen U4 is displayed.

< about System State >

Next, the system state of the HHP20 will be described with reference to fig. 16. Fig. 16 is a transition diagram illustrating the system state of HHP 20. As shown in the figure, there are mainly i. standby, ii. warm-up, iii. printing in the system state, and further, iv. print ready, v. image forming operation, and vi. image forming operation end in iii. printing. The illustrated system state is merely an example, and various states other than the illustrated state may be possible.

I. The standby state is a standby state, ii, the warm-up state is a state in which preparation for printing is performed, and iii, the printing state is a state in which printing can be immediately performed as long as a user performs a predetermined operation. The print ready state is a state in which the user is standing by pressing the print button 26a, the v image forming operation is a state in which the user is scanning, and the vi image forming operation end means a state in which the transition from the start of the v image forming operation to the end of printing of 1 page is completed.

The HHP20 is i.standby immediately after power is turned on. The transition from i.standby to ii.preheat is made under the following transition conditions.

(i) In I, standby → II, preheating

Long press of the data input/print button 26a (for maintenance) and remaining pages (the remaining pages will be described later)

The transition from ii.

(ii) II. preheating → III. printing

Image reception is complete and temperature is ready and gyro offset correction is complete

Immediately after transition into iii printing, the system state becomes iv printing ready. The transition from iv printing ready to v image forming operation is made under the following transition conditions.

(iii) IV. print ready → V. image forming action

Pressing of print button 26a

The transition from the v. image forming operation to the vi. image forming operation end is made under the following transition conditions.

(iv) V. in image forming operation → VI. end of image forming operation

Out of image area, float detection, stop timeout, press of print button 26a

From the end of the image forming action to iv.

(v) End of image forming action → IV

With surplus pages

Transition from the end of the image forming action to ii.

(vi) VI, end of image forming operation → II, in warm-up

No remaining pages and in data entry

From vi. image forming operation end to i. standby, transition is made under the following transition conditions. (vii) VI, the image forming operation is finished → I

Without residual page

For example, since the transition in (v) is made to the state of print readiness after the transition to the end of the image forming operation, if there are remaining pages, the user can make the transition to the v-image forming operation by pressing the print button 26 a. The remaining pages are paths to be scanned remaining when the image is printed in a path divided into Pn times in the single-path mode described later. Therefore, even in the case where a plurality of scans are required in the single-path mode, the user can press the print button 26a to start the next scan as long as the user moves the HHP20 out of the image area, and operability is improved. In the case of the multi-path mode, the user can end printing even if an image is left without printing as long as the user satisfies the transition condition (iv).

< coordinate Table conversion by HHP >

In the scanning direction setting screen U shown in fig. 12, at least one of the initial position set by the user and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 is included in the information relating to scanning, and is transmitted to the HHP 20. The position management unit 62 of the HHP20 converts the coordinates of the position information calculated by the position calculation circuit 34, based on the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12.

Fig. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is oriented to D3 at the upper left corner. The origin of the image region 80 is the upper left corner, and is two-dimensionally arranged in the + X direction and the + Y direction. The user scans quadrant 4 via HHP 20. In this case, when the position information detected by the HHP20 is represented by the lower case letters x, y, the coordinates detected by the HHP20 in the image area 80 are-x, -y. Since the absolute values of x and y are equal to the absolute value of X, Y, the following conversion may be performed.

-x→+X

-Y → + Y … formula (3)

In fig. 17, the directions of the nozzles 1 to N and the + Y direction are opposite to the direction of the normal nozzle 71 (fig. 12 a) (the nozzle 1 coincides with the origin). Therefore, the position management unit 62 processes the position information of the nozzles 1 to N upside down. The conversion of the formula (3) is performed above this.

Nozzle 1 → nozzle N

Nozzle 2 → nozzle N-1

:

Nozzle N → nozzle 1

If this conversion is not performed, ink at the coordinates of the nozzle N is discharged at the coordinates of the nozzle 1, and ink at the coordinates of the nozzle 1 is discharged at the coordinates of the nozzle N.

Fig. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is oriented to D4 at the upper left corner. Likewise, the user scans quadrant 4 via HHP 20. In this case, when the position information detected by the HHP20 is represented by the lower case letters x, y, the coordinates detected by the HHP20 in the image area 80 are-x, + y. In this case, as is clear from the drawing, only the following conversion is required.

-x→+Y

+ y → + X … formula (4)

In fig. 18, the nozzle N coincides with the origin, and therefore, the nozzles 1 to N do not need to be changed.

Fig. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing coordinate conversion when the initial position is oriented to D2 at the upper left corner. Likewise, the user scans quadrant 4 via HHP 20. In this case, when the position information detected by the HHP20 is represented by the lower case letters x, y, the coordinates detected by the HHP20 in the image area 80 are + x and-y. In this case, as is clear from the drawing, only the following conversion is required.

+x→+Y

-y → + X … formula (5)

In fig. 19, the direction of the nozzles N to 1 and the + X direction are opposite to the direction of the normal nozzle 71 (fig. 12 a) (the nozzle 1 coincides with the origin). 5. Therefore, the position management unit 62 processes the position information of the nozzles 1 to N upside down.

The transformation in fig. 17 to 19 can be obtained by transformation of a coordinate system. In fig. 17, the coordinate system of HHP20 is rotated 180 degrees counterclockwise, the coordinate system of HHP20 in fig. 18 is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise (clockwise rotation direction is-90 degrees), and the coordinate system of HHP20 in fig. 19 is rotated 270 degrees counterclockwise (clockwise rotation direction is-270 degrees), and they match the XY coordinate system (printing medium coordinates). That is, the position management unit 62 converts the coordinate system of the HHP20 into the coordinate system of the image.

In fig. 17 to 19, the case where the initial position is the upper left corner is described, but the coordinate conversion may be performed when the initial position is located at the upper right corner.

Fig. 20(a) is an example of a diagram illustrating coordinate transformation when the initial position is the direction D1 of the upper right corner. Likewise, the user scans quadrant 4 via HHP 20. In this case, if the position information detected by the HHP20 is represented by the lower case letters X, y, the HHP20 has the detected coordinate of-X in the image area 80, and has moved the coordinate of the HHP20 at the maximum value Xmax of the X coordinate in the image area 80. Therefore, the following conversion may be performed.

-x+Xmax→+X

+ Y → + Y … formula (7)

When changing the Y coordinate at the initial position like the lower right corner or the lower left corner, it is sufficient to change-Y + Ymax to Y. When the initial position is changed and set to face the direction D2 to the direction D4, the rotation of the coordinate system and the displacement of the coordinates may be combined.

Further, as shown in fig. 20(b), the image area 80 may be moved. In fig. 20(b), the image area 80 is horizontally moved to the third quadrant. The Y coordinate of the image is unchanged, and the X coordinate is-Xmax as a whole. The user scans the third quadrant through HHP 20. In this case, when the position information detected by the HHP20 is represented by the lower case letters X, y, the coordinates detected by the HHP20 in the image area 80 are-X, + y, but since the X coordinate of the image has been changed, no coordinate transformation is required.

-x→-X

+ Y → + Y … formula (8)

< Effect of setting initial position and orientation of HHP20 when placed on print Medium >

Next, the effect of the user setting the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 as in the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 21 and 22. Fig. 21 is an explanatory illustration showing an effect when printing is performed on the notebook-shaped printing medium 12.

Fig. 21(a) shows a case where the left page of the notebook 501 is scanned from left to right as viewed from the user. However, in this case, when the user starts scanning from the left end of the notebook 501, the paper may be warped as the HHP20 approaches the center portion of the notebook 501. Fig. 21(b) shows a case where the paper is deflected. When the paper is flexed, it is difficult to smoothly perform scanning, which may result in deterioration of operability and image quality.

In contrast, in the present embodiment, the left page can be scanned from the center of the notebook computer in the left direction as viewed from the user. Fig. 21(c) shows a case where the right page of the notebook 501 is scanned from left to right as viewed from the user as an example. At this time, when the user starts scanning from the center of the notebook 501 toward the right direction as viewed from the user, HHP20 is less likely to bend the paper regardless of which part of the notebook is scanned. Fig. 21(d) shows a state where the sheet is not flexed.

Therefore, the HHP20 of the present embodiment can reduce the possibility of operability and image quality degradation because the user can select the initial position regardless of whether the right page or the left page of the notebook 501 is printed.

Fig. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing an effect of starting printing from an arbitrary position of an image. Fig. 22(a) shows an example of a general image. In most of photographs and the like, a person has a face or a beautiful landscape in the center, and the main subject 511 that is desired to be printed tends to be closer to the center.

However, when the user starts printing from the four corners of the image, it takes time to reach the main subject 511 since the printing is started from the background of the photograph. FIG. 21(b) shows the scanning direction of HHP20 from the four corners of the image to the printing of the entire image in the two-way printing indicated by arrow 512. For example, in the scan of line 1, since an area with almost no subject is scanned, the user sometimes feels unnecessary.

Then, as shown in fig. 22(c), in the present embodiment, by setting the initial position to an arbitrary position by the user, printing can be started from the vicinity of the central portion of the image. As shown in fig. 22(c), the user can print the main object 511 by a smaller scanning distance.

In addition, for the unnecessary background, the user can forcibly end printing even if an image remains by making a transition to the system state, such as pressing the print button 26a or floating the HHP20 from the print medium 12, and therefore the image forming operation can be completed at any timing.

Fig. 23 shows an example of a scanning direction setting screen U5 for the user to set an arbitrary position of an image at an initial position. Shown in fig. 23(a) are "please tap the place to start printing" information 513 and a preview 401 of the image. The user can set an arbitrary position as an initial position by tapping the vicinity of the main subject. With this initial position, the user can also set the orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12.

Fig. 23(b) is an explanatory diagram of coordinate transformation when an arbitrary portion is set as an initial position. When the user sets (X0, Y0) as the initial position, the coordinates when the HHP20 starts scanning are (X0, Y0), and therefore the position management unit 62 acquires and sets (X0, Y0) from the image output device 11. (X0, Y0) is contained in the information relating to the scan. That is, the initial coordinates of HHP20 are not (0, 0) but start from (X0, Y0). Thereafter, the coordinates may be determined based on the x and y calculated by the position calculating circuit 34.

< Single Path mode and Multi-Path mode >

Next, a single path mode and a multipath mode, which are scanning modes of the HHP20, will be described. As illustrated in fig. 26, the user sets a single path mode or a multi-path mode in the image outputter 11.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram of the single-path mode. The single-path mode is a scan mode in which printing is performed when scanning is performed only in one direction as viewed from the user. In fig. 24, ink is ejected only when scanning from right to left as viewed by the user. Therefore, in the single-path mode, HHP20 does not calculate the Y coordinate (even if the calculation is not used for ejection control). The position management unit 62 treats any one or an average value of the nozzles 1 to N as the X coordinate of all the nozzles 1 to N. Since the nozzles 1 to N print images having the same X coordinate at the same timing, the image quality in the single path mode can be improved.

In the single path mode, there is also a setting that the user scans from left to right. Regardless of whether the user is a single-path mode of scanning from right to left or a single-path mode of scanning from left to right from the user's perspective, the relative positions of the image and the HHP20 are determined when the origin, initial position, and orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 are determined. When the user scans from left to right, the coordinates of the image when the user scans only from left to right match the coordinates of the nozzles 71, and when the user scans from right to left, the coordinates of the image when the user scans only from right to left match the coordinates of the nozzles 71. Therefore, in the single-path mode, ink can be ejected only when scanning is performed in a predetermined scanning direction.

The image outputter 11 calculates how many scans (paths) are required for printing of an image. The image outputter 11 calculates the number Pn of paths required to print the text data from the character size and the number of lines of the text data and the height h [ mm ] of the nozzles 1 to N, and sends the Pn images to the HHP 20. Thus, this Pn path printing is called Pn path printing in which Pn pieces are divided to be printed.

For example, when the character size is 16 dots (point), the height of 1 line is "16 × 0.35[ mm ] -" 5.6[ mm ] ". This "0.35" is a value in mm converted from 1 point. The length of the IJ recording head 24 determined by the specification of the printable height of the HHP20 in 1 scan is as follows. The length is h [ mm ]. Since the size (point) of 1 character is limited to h or less in advance, a plurality of scanning paths are not required for scanning the text in 1 line. This can suppress the degradation of image quality after the character is interrupted halfway.

The image outputter 11 increases the number of lines one line by one line, and judges whether or not the height of the number of lines is below h. Row-to-row considerations are also good. The height of 2 lines is calculated in consideration of the size of the character and the line-to-line distance and compared with the height h of the IJ recording head 24. This comparison is repeated until the height of the k rows is greater than the height h of the IJ recording head 24. The k-1 line is the maximum number of lines that can be printed in 1 scan.

In this way, image outputter 11 calculates the number of lines that can be printed by 1 scan, and sends the image to HHP20 after dividing into Pn scans. In fig. 24, it is determined that 3 scans are necessary. The same applies to the method of consideration in the case of longitudinal scanning.

Next, fig. 25 shows an explanatory example of the multipath pattern. The multi-path mode is a scanning mode (a scanning mode in which an image is formed by scanning in the forward and backward directions) in which ink is ejected in both left-to-right scanning and right-to-left scanning when viewed from a user. This has an advantage of reducing the amount of scanning by the user, and also has an advantage of enabling printing even for a large-sized image that cannot be printed in 1 scan.

Further, the text may be printed (imaged at the time of printing) in a multi-path mode. However, the characters printed by the multi-path mode may be degraded in image quality due to the limitation of the height h of the nozzle 71.

As shown in fig. 26, the user can operate the image outputter 11 to set the scan direction mode. Fig. 26 is an exemplary view of the scanning direction setting screen 421 displayed on the image output device 11. The scan direction setting screen 421 has a message 422 of "please set the scan direction" and radio buttons 423 and 424 corresponding to "one-way" and "two-way". The user selects any one of the 2 radio buttons 423, 424. In addition, a default value is determined even in the case where the user does not select the scanning direction.

In addition, either the scanning direction setting screen 421 in fig. 26 or the scanning direction setting screen U in fig. 12 may be set first. The user can independently set the initial position of the "one-way" or "two-way" and HHP20 and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on print medium 12.

< orientation of HHP20 when placed on a print medium of HHP in longitudinal scanning in Single Path mode >

In fig. 12 and the like, the description has been given of the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 being able to be set arbitrarily, but in the single-path mode in which mainly characters are printed, vertical scanning can be relatively easily achieved. As described above, in japanese or chinese, since characters are described vertically, there is a need to print characters by vertical scanning. At this time, if the user makes the setting as shown in fig. 12, the character written in the longitudinal direction is printed by the longitudinal scanning. However, in the single-pass mode, the vertically written characters can be printed more easily in the vertical scanning mode.

Fig. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of scanning for converting to a vertically written character. First, fig. 27(a) shows a state of a horizontally written character in which the origin is the upper left corner and is arranged as an image in two dimensions of the + X direction and the + Y direction. In fig. 27(a), a letter such as "HAND" is described, and in the case of japanese, an image in which characters are written horizontally is transmitted as well. Therefore, the user cannot print characters in a portrait writing manner.

In the present embodiment, the image processing unit 55 of the image output device 11 converts the horizontal writing into the vertical writing by any one of the following methods. a. Using the vertical writing font b, rotating the characters by 90 degrees one by one fig. 27(b) shows the conversion into vertical written characters by either a.b. It can be seen that "HAND" is transformed into longitudinal writing. In the state of fig. 27(b), when the user scans from left to right as viewed from the user, the user feels less comfortable with the scan because the characters are printed with 90 degrees reversed as viewed from the user.

Next, consider a case where the user scans the HHP20 with the holding method toward D2. Fig. 27(c) shows a character scanned after the user rotates the HHP20 clockwise by 90 degrees (holding method toward D2). Fig. 27(b) and (c) are only the orientation change of the image, and the image as "HAND" is the same.

In fig. 27(c), characters may be written longitudinally on the print medium 12. In the single-path mode, since the HHP20 does not detect the Y coordinate, the user can perform vertical scanning by changing the scanning direction without setting the orientation or initial position of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12.

In fig. 27(c), although the character can be written vertically, the user may feel that the position is difficult to align because the user performs the position alignment of the HHP20 with the nozzle 1 positioned at the upper left corner of the H character. However, in the case of scanning with the left hand, it is possible to reduce the difficulty of the position alignment.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 28, it is effective to set the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 in the reverse manner to fig. 27, and to perform the positional information of the nozzles 1 to N upside down. FIG. 28 is an illustration of the orientation of HHP20 when placed on print medium 12 in single-path mode.

The HHPs 20 shown in fig. 28(a) to (c) when placed on the print medium 12 are oriented differently, but the relative positions of the HHPs 20 with respect to the image area 80 are the same. In fig. 28(a) to (c), the user positions HHP20 with nozzle N positioned at the top left corner of the H character, so that alignment is easy. For a longitudinally written character, the user may scan in a direction from left to right (fig. 28(a)), or from right to left (fig. 28(b)), or from top to bottom as viewed from the user (fig. 28 (c)).

In addition, in the case of the initial position in fig. 28 and the orientation of the HHP20 when set on the print medium 12, the position management section 62 performs the same coordinate transformation as in the case of the orientation set to D3. Since the Y coordinate is not used for ink ejection, no transformation is required.

-X → + X … formula (9)

In fig. 28, the directions of the nozzles 1 to N and the + Y direction are opposite to the direction of the normal nozzle 71 (fig. 12 a) (the nozzle 1 coincides with the origin). Therefore, the position management section 62 inverts the position information of the nozzles 1 to N upside down (otherwise, it becomes a mirror image character).

Fig. 29 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the image outputter 11 when longitudinal scanning is performed in the single-path mode.

First, the user sets the single-pass mode and the vertical scanning mode on the horizontal scanning vertical scanning setting screen in fig. 14 and the scanning direction setting screen in fig. 26. The operation receiving unit 53 of the image output unit 11 receives the setting of the vertical scanning in the single-pass mode (S401).

The image processing unit 55 rotates the image of the vertical writing font or character (S402). Since this image is sent to the HHP20, the HHP20 can print the image by vertical scanning by coordinate conversion and processing the positional information of the nozzles 1 to N upside down.

< Overall action step >

Fig. 30 is a flowchart illustration showing the operation steps of the image outputter 11 and the HHP 20. First, the user presses the power button of the image outputter 11 (U101). Upon receiving this operation, the image output device 11 is powered on by a battery or the like.

The user operates the image outputter 11 to select an image to be printed (U102). The operation receiving unit 53 of the image output device 11 receives selection of an image. Input or selection of text data is sometimes accepted. The display control unit 52 may display a preview.

Next, the user sets the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 as illustrated in fig. 12 (U103, U104). Next, the operation receiving unit 53 receives the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12. In addition, the user sets a single path mode or a multi-path mode. It is also possible to perform setting of a simple vertical writing.

The user performs an operation of executing the selected image as a print job (U105). That is, the start button of printing is pressed. The operation reception unit 53 of the HHP20 receives a request for execution of a print job. Upon request of a print job, information about the image and scan is sent to HHP 20.

The user holds HHP20 and determines an initial position on print medium 12 (e.g., notebook) (U106).

Then, the user presses the print button 26a of HHP20 (U107). The HHP20 receives a press of the print button 26 a.

The user makes HHP20 slide on print medium 12 to freely scan (U108).

Next, the operation of HHP20 will be described. The following actions are performed by the CPU33 by executing firmware.

HHP20 is also initiated by power ON. The startup processing unit 63 of the HHP20 initializes the hardware elements of fig. 3 and 4 incorporated in the HHP20 (S101). For example, registers of the navigation sensor I/F42 and the gyro sensor I/F45 are initialized, or timing values are set in the print/sensor timing generator 43. In addition, communication between the HHP20 and the image outputter 11 is established. For example, in the case of bluetooth (registered trademark) communication, the user performs pairing of the image outputter 11 and the HHP20 in advance.

The startup processing unit 63 of the HHP20 determines whether or not initialization is completed, and repeats this determination if not completed (S102).

When the initialization is completed (yes in S102), the display control unit of the HHP20 notifies the user that the printing is possible by, for example, lighting the LED of the OPU26 (S103). Thus, the user knows that it is a printable state, and requests execution of a print job as described above.

In accordance with a request for execution of a print job, the communication I/F27 of the HHP20 receives an input of an image from the image outputter 11, and the display control section 68 notifies the user of the fact that an image is input by blinking or the like of the LED of the OPU26 (S104).

When the user determines the initial position of the HHP20 on the print medium 12 and presses the print button 26a, the HHP20 receives the operation, and the information acquisition control section 61 causes the navigation sensor I/F42 to read the position information (S105). Thus, the navigation sensor I/F42 communicates with the navigation sensor 30, acquires the movement amount detected by the navigation sensor 30, and stores the movement amount in a register or the like (S1001). The information acquisition control unit 61 reads the movement amount from the navigation sensor I/F42.

The shift amount obtained immediately after the user presses the print button 26a is 0, but even if not 0, the position management section 62 stores the coordinates (0, 0) in, for example, the register of the DRAM29 or the CPU33 (S106).

Further, when the limit is determined, the print/sensor timing generation section 43 starts generation of timing (S107). When the print/sensor timing generation section 43 reaches the acquisition timing of the movement amount of the navigation sensor 30 set initially, the timing is indicated to the navigation sensor I/F42 and the gyro sensor I/F45. This is done periodically, i.e. the sampling period described above.

The information acquisition control unit 61 of the HHP20 determines whether or not the timing to acquire the movement amount and the angular velocity information is (S108). This determination is performed in response to the notification from the interrupt controller 41, but may be performed by the CPU33 counting the same timing as the print/sensor timing generation unit 43.

When the timing for acquiring the movement amount and the angular velocity information is entered, the information acquisition control unit 61 of the HHP20 acquires the movement amount from the navigation sensor I/F42 and the angular velocity information from the gyro sensor I/F45 (S109). As described above, the gyro sensor I/F45 obtains the angular velocity information from the gyro sensor 31 at the timing generated by the print/sensor timing generation unit 43, and the navigation sensor I/F42 obtains the movement amount from the navigation sensor 30 at the timing generated by the print/sensor timing generation unit 43.

Next, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates the current position information of the navigation sensor 30 using the angular velocity information and the movement amount (S110). Specifically, the position calculation circuit 34 adds the movement distance calculated from the current movement amount (Δ X ', Δ Y') and the angular velocity information acquired this time to the position information (X, Y) calculated in the previous cycle, and calculates the current position information of the navigation sensor 30. Only when the initial position does not have the position information calculated last time, the current position information of the navigation sensor 30 is calculated by adding the movement distance calculated from the movement amount (Δ X ', Δ Y') acquired this time and the angular velocity information to the initial position.

Next, the position calculation circuit 34 calculates current position information of each nozzle 71 using the current position information of the navigation sensor 30 (S111).

In this manner, since the angular velocity information and the movement amount are obtained simultaneously or almost simultaneously by the print/sensor timing generation section 43, the position information of the nozzle 71 can be calculated from the rotation angle and the movement amount obtained at the timing at which the rotation angle is detected. Therefore, even if the positional information of the nozzle 71 is calculated from the information of the sensors of different types, the accuracy of the positional information of the nozzle 71 is difficult to be lowered.

Next, the position management section 62 converts the position information of the nozzles 71 based on the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 (S112-2). The processing for step S111-2 will be explained in fig. 31.

Next, the print control unit 66 controls the DMAC38 to transmit an image of a peripheral image of each nozzle 71 from the DRAM29 to the ImageRAM37 based on the calculated position information of each nozzle 71 (S112). In addition, the rotator 39 rotates the image in accordance with the head position (hold of HHP20, etc.) specified by the user and the tilt of the IJ recording head 24.

Next, the print control unit 66 compares the position coordinates of each image element constituting the peripheral image with the position coordinates of each nozzle 71 using the IJ recording head control unit 44 (S113). The position calculation circuit 34 calculates the acceleration of the nozzle 71 using the past position information and the current position information of the nozzle 71. Thus, the position calculating circuit 34 calculates the position information of the nozzle 71 for each ink ejection cycle of the IJ recording head 24, which is shorter than the cycle in which the navigation sensor I/F42 acquires the movement amount and the gyro sensor I/F45 acquires the angular velocity information.

The print control unit 66 determines whether or not the coordinates of the image element are included in a predetermined range from the position information of the nozzle 71 (S114).

If the ejection condition is not satisfied (no in step S114), the process returns to step S108. When the ejection condition is satisfied (yes in step S114), the print control unit 66 outputs the image element to the IJ recording head drive circuit 23 for each nozzle 71 using the IJ recording head control unit 44 (step S115). This causes ink to be ejected onto the printing medium 12. The IJ recording head control unit 44 updates the ejection control table.

Next, the state control section 67 determines whether all the images are output, whether floating is detected, whether the outside of the image area is detected, or whether the print button 26a is released (step S116). If the determination at step S116 is no, the processing at steps S108 to S115 is repeated.

If the determination at step S116 is yes, the display control unit 68 lights, for example, an LED of the OPU26 to notify the user that printing has ended (step S117).

Action of HHP

Fig. 31 is a flowchart illustration showing the HHP20 processing based on information about the scan. The process of fig. 31 is performed at step S111-2 of fig. 30.

As explained in step S104 of fig. 30, the communication unit 64 of the HHP20 receives information on the image and the scan (step S201).

The position management unit 62 determines whether the user selects the multipath mode (step S202). In the case of the multi-path mode (yes in step S202), the position management unit 62 further determines whether the initial position is the upper left corner and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the set print medium 12 is the orientation D1 (step S203). This is because, in this case, it is not necessary to convert the coordinates. In the case where the determination of step S203 is no, the process proceeds to step S205.

If the determination at step S203 is yes, the position management unit 62 converts the coordinates of the HHP20, as described with reference to fig. 13 and the like, and reverses the nozzles 1 to N in the vertical direction in accordance with the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12 (step S204). When the user selects an arbitrary position of the image as the initial position, the position management unit 62 sets the coordinates of the arbitrary position as the initial coordinates of the HHP 20.

The print control unit 66 ejects ink based on the coordinates of the HHP20 and the coordinates of the image (step S205). This process corresponds to steps S114 and S115 in fig. 30.

In the single path mode (no in step S202), the position management unit 62 determines whether or not vertical scanning is set (step S206). This is because coordinate conversion is not required in the case of the horizontal scanning. In the case where the determination in step S206 is no, the process proceeds to step S205.

In the case of vertical scanning (yes in step S206), the position management unit 62 converts the X coordinate (-X → + X) of the HHP20 and reverses the nozzles 1 to N upside down (step S207).

The print control unit 66 ejects ink based on the coordinates of the HHP20 and the coordinates of the image (step S205).

In fig. 31, HHP20 is specifically directed to the case of vertical scanning in the single-pass mode, and HHP20 can print vertically written characters (images in HHP20) by the coordinate transformation described with reference to fig. 13 and the like.

< summary >

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the user can arbitrarily set the combination of the initial position of the HHP20 and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12, the user can scan in a direction in which the user can easily scan from the initial position at which the user can easily scan. In addition, only a portion of the image desired to be printed can be printed. The image output unit 11 converts the horizontally written characters into vertically written characters, and thereby can print the vertically written characters by vertically scanning the characters. By the user selecting the horizontal scanning or the vertical scanning, the image output apparatus 11 initially sets the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12, and thus the number of operation steps for the user can be reduced.

< other application example >

Although the best mode for carrying out the present invention has been described above by way of examples, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and various modifications and substitutions may be added thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, the HHP20 of the present embodiment has both the single-path mode and the multipath mode, but the HHP20 may have either the single-path mode or the multipath mode.

In addition, HHPs 20 may also communicate with the server. The user transmits the image to the server in advance, and records the image in association with a user ID or the like. When the HHP20 sends the user ID to the server (login), printing is enabled because the server sends the image to the HHP 20.

Alternatively, the user may input a text to be printed by voice, or the image output unit 11 may transmit voice data to the server and perform voice recognition processing by the server.

In addition, the HHP20 may have a camera. The HHP20 may print images taken by the camera.

The HHP20 may also be directly set to receive the initial position and the orientation of the HHP20 when placed on the print medium 12.

The configuration examples shown in fig. 6 and the like in the above embodiments are divided according to the main functions for the convenience of understanding the processing of the image outputter 11 and the HHP 20. However, the present invention is not limited to the method or name of division of each processing unit. The image outputter 11 and the HHP20 may be divided into more processing units according to the processing contents. In addition, one processing unit may be divided to include more processes.

The position calculation circuit 34 is an example of a position information acquisition unit, the IJ recording head 24 is an example of an image forming unit, the position management unit 62 is an example of a position information acquisition unit, the communication unit 64 is an example of a scan information acquisition unit, the operation reception unit 53 is an example of a reception unit, the communication unit 51 is an example of a communication unit, and the LCD207 is an example of a display unit.

As described above, the HHP20 of the present invention is a computer device including a processor and a memory storing computer program instructions that, when executed by the processor, can implement the image forming method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 32 is a schematic view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 32, in this image forming apparatus (HHP20), one or more central processing units (CPUs 201) represented by a processor 502, one or more memories represented by a memory 504 storing an operating system 5041 and an application 5042, and various circuits such as a hard disk 505 and a display device 506 are connected together by a bus interconnection between each network interface 501 and the device.

The method disclosed by the above embodiment of the invention can be applied to a processor or implemented by the processor. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, configured to implement or perform the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in embodiments of the present invention. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, the processing units may be implemented within one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), general purpose processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a software implementation, the techniques described herein may be implemented with modules (e.g., procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory and executed by a processor. The memory may be implemented within the processor or external to the processor.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the functional units is only one logical division, and there may be other divisions when actually implementing, for example, a plurality of functional units, units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not implemented. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment of the present invention.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention or a part of the technical solution that substantially contributes to the prior art may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the image forming method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (13)

1. An image forming apparatus, characterized by comprising:

an image forming section that forms an image on a medium;

a scan information acquiring unit that acquires scan information regarding a scan direction of the image forming unit with respect to an image to be formed;

a position information acquiring unit for acquiring position information of the image forming unit, and

a control unit that controls an image forming operation of the image forming unit based on the scan information and the position information about the scanning direction of the image forming unit acquired by the scan information acquiring unit;

the scan information includes at least one of an initial position and an orientation of the image forming unit as information on a scanning direction of the image forming unit with respect to the image to be formed, and the control unit controls the image forming operation based on at least one of the initial position and the orientation.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the control unit converts the position information into the position information in a coordinate system of the image to be formed.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the orientation is an orientation in the initial position of the image forming section with respect to the image to be formed.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the orientation is any one of a first direction, a second direction opposite to the first direction, a third direction perpendicular to the first direction, and a fourth direction opposite to the third direction.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the initial position is an arbitrary position in the image of the formation object.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the initial position is any one of four corners of an image area in the image of the formation object.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the image forming section is a recording head in which a plurality of nozzles are arrayed,

the control unit controls an image forming operation for each of the plurality of nozzles based on the scanning information and the position information.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

has a state control section for controlling a system state of the image forming apparatus,

the state control unit changes the system state from the image forming operation to the end of the image forming operation even during the image forming operation of the image forming unit in accordance with an operation by a user.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the scanning information further includes scanning mode information indicating a single-path mode in which an image is formed when scanning in only one direction or a multi-path mode in which an image is formed by scanning in the forward and backward directions.

10. An information processing apparatus that communicates with the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized by comprising:

a display unit that displays a screen for accepting setting of the scan information;

a reception unit which receives the scan information, an

A communication unit that transmits the scan information to the image forming apparatus.

11. An image forming method performed by an image forming apparatus having an image forming section for forming an image on a medium, comprising:

acquiring scanning information on a scanning direction of the image forming unit with respect to an image to be formed;

a step of acquiring positional information of the image forming section, and

controlling an image forming operation of the image forming section based on the scanning information and the position information regarding a scanning direction of the image forming section;

wherein the scan information includes at least one of an initial position and an orientation of the image forming unit as information on a scanning direction of the image forming unit with respect to the image to be formed, and the image forming operation is controlled based on the at least one of the initial position and the orientation.

12. A computer-readable storage medium characterized by storing a computer program for executing, in an image forming apparatus having an image forming section that forms an image on a medium:

acquiring scanning information on a scanning direction of the image forming unit with respect to an image to be formed;

a step of acquiring positional information of the image forming section, and

controlling an image forming operation of the image forming section based on the scanning information and the position information regarding a scanning direction of the image forming section;

wherein the scan information includes at least one of an initial position and an orientation of the image forming unit as information on a scanning direction of the image forming unit with respect to the image to be formed, and the image forming operation is controlled based on the at least one of the initial position and the orientation.

13. An image forming apparatus comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor,

the method is characterized in that: the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the image forming method of claim 11.

Images