JP2013039169A - Nail printer and method for controlling print - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nail printer prevented from causing image displacement in each scanning to perform high-quality printing even though a finger moves in the middle of scanning when a printing head makes a plurality of scans to perform printing on a nail part: and to provide a print controlling method.SOLUTION: The print controlling method includes: when printing one design image by a plurality of scans while dividing a nail part T into a plurality of areas, acquiring a printing condition in at least n-th time scanning after finishing the n-th time scanning (S5), detecting whether or not blur is caused on the design image printed by the n-th time scanning based on a printing condition and the printing data (original data) of the design image in the n-th time scanning to detect the blur (S6, S7), correcting the printing data of a design image to be printed by (n+1)-th time scanning (S8), and controlling the device to perform printing on the nail part by (n+1)-th time scanning based on the printing data after corrected as above (S2).

Description

  The present invention relates to a nail printing apparatus and a printing control method.

  The nail printing apparatus is a printing apparatus that positions a finger of a nail to be printed on a finger placement table provided in the apparatus main body, and prints a design image such as a color or a pattern on the fingernail thus positioned. In such a nail printing apparatus, a user selects a design image that the user wants to print on his / her nail, and the selected design image is printed on the nail portion of the finger.

  Conventionally, a technique has been adopted in which the scale of print data of a design image held in a storage unit such as a nail printing apparatus is adjusted according to the size or shape of the user's nail region (for example, printing) , See Patent Document 1).

Special table 2003-534083 gazette

However, in order to reduce the size and weight of the nail printing apparatus, a small print head is often mounted, and the range that can be printed by one scan is sometimes narrower than the area of the nail portion.
In such a case, for example, a design image is printed by dividing the nail portion into a plurality of regions and scanning the print head a plurality of times. For example, a finger is moved during the first scan. If the image is moved in the same direction as the scanning direction (that is, the moving direction), the image printed on the nail portion in the first scanning has a length dimension in the scanning direction of the print head rather than the image to be originally printed. It will be compressed short. On the other hand, if the finger moves in the direction opposite to the scanning direction of the print head (that is, the moving direction) during the first scanning, the image printed on the nail portion by the first scanning is originally printed. The length dimension of the print head in the scanning direction is extended longer than the image to be printed.

  As described above, when the first stage of printing by the first scan does not perform printing correctly due to the finger moving, if the second stage of printing by the second scan is performed as it is, the first scan is performed. As a result, the first-stage image printed on the nail part and the second-stage image printed on the nail part by the second scan do not match, and the boundary between the first and second stages is conspicuous and the finish is poor. There is a problem that it becomes an image.

  The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above. When a print head is scanned a plurality of times and printing is performed on the nail portion, even if the finger moves during the scan, the scan is performed for each scan. An object of the present invention is to provide a nail printing apparatus and a printing control method capable of performing high-quality printing while preventing image displacement.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the nail printing apparatus of the present invention provides:
Printing means for printing on the nail portion based on the print data of the design image;
When the nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, when the n-th scan ends, a print state acquisition unit that acquires at least the print state in the n-th scan;
Distortion for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scanning is distorted based on the printing state in the n-th scanning acquired by the printing state acquisition unit and the print data of the design image. Detection means;
Print data correction means for correcting the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning based on the detection result by the distortion detection means;
When the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected by the print data correction unit, the print is performed so that the n + 1-th scan is printed on the nail portion based on the corrected print data. Printing control means for controlling the means;
It is characterized by having.

The printing control method of the present invention includes
In a printing control method used in a printing apparatus including a printing unit that prints on a nail portion based on print data of a design image,
When the nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, a print state acquisition step for acquiring a print state in at least the nth scan after the nth scan is completed;
Distortion for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the nth scan is distorted based on the print state in the nth scan acquired in the print state acquisition step and the print data of the design image. A detection step;
Based on the detection result in this distortion detection step, a print data correction step for correcting the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan,
In the print data correction step, when the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected, the printing unit is configured to perform printing by the (n + 1) th scan on the nail portion based on the corrected print data. A print control step for controlling
It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, when one nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, at least the print state in the nth scan is acquired after the nth scan is completed. Based on the printing state in the n-th scanning and the print data (original data) of the design image, it is detected whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scanning is distorted. Based on this, the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected, and the nail portion is controlled to be printed by the (n + 1) th scan based on the corrected print data. When printing on the nail part by scanning the print head multiple times, even if the finger moves during the scan, high-quality printing can be performed by preventing image displacement for each scan. The effect of the can.

1 is a perspective view conceptually showing an embodiment of a nail print apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a state in which a lid is opened. It is the perspective view which showed notionally the apparatus main body of the nail print apparatus of FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a printing finger fixing unit of the nail printing apparatus in FIG. 1 and illustrates a fixing mode when a pinky finger is inserted from a forefinger as a printing finger into a printing finger insertion unit. It is sectional drawing of the front side of the nail print apparatus of FIG. It is a sectional side view of the nail print apparatus of FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows typically the relationship between the finger | toe inserted in the printing finger | toe insertion part, the imaging | photography part, and the printing part. It is a principal part block diagram which showed the control structure of the nail print apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows a part of print data of a design image typically, (B) is the case where the 1st stage printed image is compressed so that the dimension of a scanning direction may become short FIG. 6C is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a boundary portion between the first stage and the second stage when printing is performed without correcting the second stage print data. FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a boundary portion between the first stage and the second stage when printing is performed by correcting the second stage print data when the size in the scanning direction is compressed. 5 is a flowchart illustrating print control processing in the present embodiment. It is the figure which showed the ideal printing state of the design image. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed and compressed so that the printed image of the 1st step | paragraph might become short in the scanning direction. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where the first-stage printed image is printed without being corrected when the second-stage print data is printed when the first-stage printed image is compressed so as to have a shorter dimension in the scanning direction. When the first-stage printed image is compressed and printed so that the dimension in the scanning direction is shortened and printed, the second-stage print data is corrected and compressed so that the dimension in the scanning direction is shortened. It is explanatory drawing which shows. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state by which the printed image of the 1st step was expanded and printed so that the dimension of the scanning direction might become long. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state where the first-stage printed image is printed without being corrected when the second-stage print data is printed when the first-stage printed image is expanded and printed so as to have a longer dimension in the scanning direction. When the first-stage printed image is expanded and printed so that the dimension in the scanning direction becomes longer, the second-stage print data is corrected and extended so that the dimension in the scanning direction becomes longer. It is explanatory drawing which shows. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification of the method of distortion detection, and is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed so that the dimension of the scanning direction of the 1st step | paragraph might become short. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a modification of the distortion detection method, and when the first-stage printed image is printed so as to have a shorter dimension in the scanning direction, the second-stage print data is not corrected. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed on. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the distortion detection method, and when the first-stage printed image is compressed and printed so that the dimension in the scanning direction is shortened, the second-stage print data is displayed in the scanning direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed by the correction | amendment which compresses so that a dimension may become short. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification of the method of distortion detection, and is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed by extending | stretching so that the dimension of the 1st step | paragraph printed image might become long in a scanning direction. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the distortion detection method, and when the first-stage printed image is expanded and printed so that the dimension in the scanning direction becomes longer, the second-stage print data is not corrected. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed on. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the distortion detection method, and when the first-stage printed image is expanded and printed so that the dimension in the scanning direction becomes long, the second-stage print data is displayed in the scanning direction. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state printed by correct | amending so that a dimension may become long.

An embodiment of a nail print apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of a nail print apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an internal configuration of the nail print apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the nail printing apparatus 1 includes a case body 2 and a lid body 4. The case body 2 and the lid body 4 are connected to each other via a hinge 3 provided at the rear end portion of the upper surface of the case body 2.

The case body 2 is formed in an oval shape in plan view. The case body 2 is provided with an opening / closing plate 2c on the front side so as to be able to be tilted. The opening / closing plate 2 c is connected to the case body 2 via a hinge (not shown) provided at the lower front end of the case body 2. The opening / closing plate 2 c is for opening and closing the front surface of the case body 2.
An operation unit 12 to be described later is installed on the top plate 2f of the case body 2, and a display unit 13 is set almost at the center of the top plate 2f.
Note that the shapes and configurations of the case body 2 and the lid body 4 are not limited to those illustrated here.

Further, the case main body 2 accommodates the apparatus main body 10 of the nail printing apparatus 1. The apparatus main body 10 includes a printing finger fixing unit 20 constituting a printing finger fixing unit shown in FIG. 2, a photographing unit 30 constituting a photographing unit, a printing unit 40 constituting a printing unit, and a control unit. A control device 50 (see FIG. 7) is provided. The printing finger fixing unit 20, the photographing unit 30, the printing unit 40, and the control device 50 are provided in the machine casing 11.
The machine casing 11 includes a lower machine casing 11a and an upper machine casing 11b. The lower machine casing 11a is formed in a box shape and installed below the inside of the case body 2, and the upper machine casing 11b is installed above the lower machine casing 11a and inside the case body 2.

The printing finger fixing unit 20 is provided on the lower machine casing 11 a in the machine casing 11. The printing finger fixing unit 20 is configured by the printing finger insertion unit 20a, the non-printing finger insertion unit 20b, and the gripping unit 20c provided in the lower machine casing 11a.
Here, the printing finger insertion portion 20a is a finger insertion portion for inserting a finger (hereinafter referred to as “printing finger”) U1 corresponding to the nail T to be printed (see FIG. 3). The bottom surface (printing finger placement surface) of the printing finger insertion unit 20a functions as a finger placement unit that places the printing finger U1. Photographing and printing of the printing finger U1 are performed in a state where the printing finger U1 is placed on the printing finger placement surface of the printing finger insertion unit 20a as the finger placement means.
Further, the non-printing finger insertion unit 20b is a finger insertion unit for inserting a finger other than the printing finger (hereinafter referred to as “non-printing finger”) U2 (see FIG. 3).
The gripping portion 20c is a portion that can be sandwiched between the printing finger U1 inserted into the printing finger insertion portion 20a and the non-printing finger U2 inserted into the non-printing finger insertion portion 20b. In the present embodiment, the grip portion 20c is constituted by a partition wall 21 that partitions the printing finger insertion portion 20a and the non-printing finger insertion portion 20b.

  The upper surface of the partition wall 21 constitutes a flat printing finger placement surface. A bulging portion 22 is formed at the finger insertion side end of the partition wall 21. The bulging portion 22 is a portion where the base U3 of the printing finger U1 and the non-printing finger U2 contacts when the printing finger U1 and the non-printing finger U2 are inserted deeply into the printing finger insertion portion 20a and the non-printing finger insertion portion 20b. Is formed. The bulging portion 22 can strongly hold the partition wall 21 (the gripping portion 20c) between the printing finger U1 and the non-printing finger U2 in a state where the entire belly of the printing finger U1 is in contact with the printing finger placement surface. In addition, the cross-section in the finger insertion direction is circular so as to bulge downward from the lower surface of the partition wall 21. Note that the shape of the bulging portion 22 is not limited to a circular cross section, and may be a non-circular shape such as an elliptical cross section or a polygonal shape.

For example, when four fingers (index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger) other than the thumb of the left hand are the print fingers U1, the user places four print fingers on the print finger insertion portion 20a as shown in FIG. U1 is inserted, and the thumb that is the non-printing finger U2 is inserted into the non-printing finger insertion portion 20b. In this case, when the user holds the gripping portion 20c between the printing finger U1 inserted into the printing finger insertion portion 20a and the non-printing finger U2 inserted into the non-printing finger insertion portion 20b, the printing finger U1 holds the gripping portion. It is fixed on 20c.
When only the thumb becomes the printing finger U1, the thumb (printing finger U1) is inserted into the printing finger insertion unit 20a, and the four fingers other than the thumb (non-printing finger U2) are inserted into the non-printing finger insertion unit. Insert into 20b. Also in this case, the printing finger U1 is fixed by the user holding the grip portion 20c between the printing finger U1 and the non-printing finger U2.

4 is a front sectional view of the nail printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a sectional side view of the nail printing apparatus 1.
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the photographing unit 30 is provided in the upper machine casing 11 b in the machine casing 11.
That is, a camera 32 having about 2 million pixels or more with a built-in driver is installed on the lower surface of the central portion of the substrate 31 installed in the upper machine casing 11b. An illumination lamp 33 such as a white LED is installed on the substrate 31 so as to surround the camera 32. The photographing unit 30 includes the camera 32 and the illumination lamp 33.
The photographing unit 30 illuminates a printing finger U1 placed on the printing finger insertion unit 20a, which is a finger placement unit, with an illumination lamp 33, and photographs the printing finger U1 with a camera 32 to obtain a finger image. The imaging unit 30 is connected to an imaging control unit 511 of the control device 50 described later, and is controlled by the imaging control unit 511.

The printing unit 40 is a printing unit that prints on the nail portion T based on the print data of the design image, and is mainly provided in the upper machine casing 11b.
That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, two guide rods 41 are installed in parallel on both side plates of the upper machine casing 11b. A main carriage 42 is slidably installed on the guide rod 41. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, two guide rods 44 are installed in parallel on the front wall 42a and the rear wall 42b of the main carriage 42. A sub carriage 45 is slidably installed on the guide rod 44. A print head 46 is mounted at the center of the lower surface of the sub carriage 45.
In this embodiment, the print head 46 is an ink jet type print head that performs printing by atomizing ink and spraying it directly onto a printing medium (nail portion T in the present embodiment). A nozzle surface (not shown) provided with a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink is formed on a surface opposite to the printing finger placement surface. The nozzle surface may be provided on the entire surface of the print head 46 facing the print finger placement surface 21a, or may be provided in a range smaller than the area of the surface of the print head 46 facing the print finger placement surface 21a. It may be.
The nozzle surface of the print head 46 according to the present embodiment has a length dimension (length dimension in the length direction of the nail portion T) that is a dimension in the standard length direction of the nail portion T (extension direction of the finger). It has a smaller dimension. For this reason, when printing a design image over a length larger than the length dimension of the nozzle surface, the print head 46 divides the nail portion T into a plurality of regions and performs one design by scanning a plurality of times. An image is printed.
The recording method of the print head 46 is not limited to the ink jet method.

In the present embodiment, a design image printed on the nail portion T by the printing unit 40 in the n-th scan is photographed at a position on the lower surface of the sub-carriage 45 that does not interfere with the print head 46, and n A nail photographing camera 49 is provided as printed image acquisition means for acquiring image data of a printed image that is in a printing state in the second scan.
The nail photographing camera 49 serving as a printed image acquisition unit divides the nail portion T into a plurality of areas and prints one design image by a plurality of scans. It is a printing status acquisition means for acquiring the printing status in the scanning. The range captured by the nail photographing camera 49 is not particularly limited, and only a portion printed by the previous n-th scanning may be acquired as a printed image, or a portion printed by the n-th scanning may be acquired. The entire image printed so far including the image may be taken widely to obtain a printed image.
The configuration of the nail photographing camera 49 is not particularly limited. For example, a highly accurate camera capable of photographing a high-definition color image is preferable.
The nail photographing camera 49 is connected to a photographing control unit 511 of the control device 50 to be described later, and its operation is controlled by the photographing control unit 511.
Image data of a printed image captured by the nail photographing camera 49 is stored in a printed image holding area 522 of the storage unit 51.

The main carriage 42 is connected to a motor 43 through power transmission means (not shown), and is configured to move in the left-right direction along the guide rod 41 by forward and reverse rotation of the motor 43. The sub-carriage 45 is connected to a motor 47 via a power transmission means (not shown), and is configured to move in the front-rear direction along the guide rod 44 by forward and reverse rotation of the motor 47.
Further, the lower machine casing 11 a is provided with an ink cartridge 48 for supplying ink to the print head 46. The ink cartridge 48 is connected to the print head 46 via an ink supply pipe (not shown), and supplies ink to the print head 46 as appropriate. Note that an ink cartridge may be mounted on the print head 46 itself.

  The printing unit 40 includes the guide rod 41, the main carriage 42, the motor 43, the guide rod 44, the sub carriage 45, the print head 46, the motor 47, the ink cartridge 48, and the like. The motor 43, the print head 46, and the motor 47 of the printing unit 40 are connected to a print control unit 514 of the control device 50 described later, and are controlled by the print control unit 514.

The operation unit 12 is input means for the user to make various inputs.
The operation unit 12 includes, for example, a power switch button for turning on the power of the nail printing apparatus 1, a stop switch button for stopping the operation, a design selection button for selecting a design image to be printed on the nail portion T, and printing for instructing printing start. A start button and operation buttons 121 for performing various other inputs are arranged.
In the present embodiment, for example, a design selection screen (not shown) for selecting a design image is displayed on the display unit 13, and the user selects a desired design image with the operation button 121 to print The design image to be selected is selected.

The display unit 13 is a display unit configured with, for example, a liquid crystal panel (a liquid crystal display (LCD)).
A touch panel may be integrally formed on the surface of the display unit 13. In this case, various inputs can be performed by touching the surface of the display unit 13 by a touch operation with a stylus pen or a fingertip (not shown).

For example, a finger image obtained by photographing the printing finger U1, a design selection screen for selecting a design image to be printed on the nail portion T of the printing finger U1, a thumbnail image for design confirmation, and the like are displayed on the display unit 13. It is like that.
A touch panel may be integrally formed on the surface of the display unit 13. In this case, it is configured such that various input operations and the like can be performed simply by the user touching the surface of the display unit 13.

Moreover, the control apparatus 50 is installed in the board | substrate 31 etc. which are arrange | positioned at the upper machine casing 11b, for example. FIG. 7 is a principal block diagram showing a control configuration in the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 50 includes a control unit 51 configured by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) and the like, a storage unit configured by a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. 52 is a computer. Note that the storage unit of the nail print apparatus 1 is not limited to the storage unit 52 (ROM, RAM) in the control device 50, and other storage units may be provided.

  When viewed functionally, the control unit 51 includes an imaging control unit 511, a distortion detection unit 512, a print data correction unit 513, a print control unit 514, and the like. The functions as the photographing control unit 511, the distortion detection unit 512, the print data correction unit 513, the print control unit 514, and the like are realized by the cooperation of the CPU and a program stored in the ROM or the like of the storage unit 52. Note that the functional units included in the control unit 51 are not limited to those described here, and may include functional units such as a nail region detection unit that detects the region of the nail unit T from a finger image, for example.

When the nail part T is divided into a plurality of areas and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, the imaging control unit 511 uses the nail imaging camera 49 as a printed image acquisition unit (printing state acquisition unit). When the n-th scanning is completed by the control, photographing control means for photographing a design image printed on the nail portion T by the printing unit 40 in at least the n-th scanning and acquiring a printed image (printing state). is there.
In addition, the photographing control unit 511 controls the photographing operation of the photographing unit 30 so as to photograph a finger image or the like of the user's printing finger U1.
The shooting control unit 511 stores image data of images acquired by the nail shooting camera 49 and the shooting unit 30 in the storage unit 52.

The distortion detection unit 512 includes image data (printing state) of a printed image acquired by the nail photographing camera 49 serving as a printed image acquisition unit (printing state acquisition unit) and a design image of the storage unit 52. This is a distortion detection means for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scan is distorted based on the design image print data stored in the holding area 521.
In the present embodiment, the distortion detection unit 512 compares the image data of the printed image acquired by the nail photographing camera 49 with the print data of the design image, so that the design image printed by the nth scan is displayed. It is detected whether or not distortion has occurred.
Specifically, the color of each pixel constituting the image data of the printed image is compared with the color of each pixel of the print data of the design image, and each pixel of the image data of the printed image is compared with the print data of the design image. Determine which pixel corresponds to each pixel, and detect how much each pixel of the image data of the printed image deviates from the position where the corresponding pixel of the print data of the design image should have been originally printed To do.
In the present embodiment, the distortion detection unit 512 detects whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scan is distorted in the scanning direction of the print head 40 (scanning direction Y in FIG. 11 and the like). Is. Note that the distortion detected by the distortion detection unit 512 is not limited to the distortion generated in the scanning direction Y. For example, it may be possible to detect distortion in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction Y of the print head 40.

Here, a technique of distortion detection by the distortion detection unit 512 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8A and 8B.
FIG. 8A shows the n-th stage to be printed by the n-th scanning of the print data (original data) of the design image (in FIG. 8A, the first stage printed by the first scanning). ) Print data, the portion located at the boundary with the (n + 1) th stage, and the (n + 1) th stage to be printed by the (n + 1) th scanning (in FIG. 8A, the second stage printed by the second scanning). FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which a portion of the print data of the eye) is partially cut out from a portion located at the boundary with the n-th stage. In FIGS. 8A to 8C, each frame (that is, k1-1, k2-1, d1-1, d2-1, etc.) represents one pixel.
FIG. 8B shows an n-th stage printed image (first stage in FIG. 8B) printed by the n-th scan, and an (n + 1) -th stage shown in FIG. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a printed image of the (n + 1) th stage (second stage in FIG. 8B) when the print data of the second stage printed in the second scan is printed as it is. is there.
For example, when the user's print finger U1 moves at a constant speed in the scanning direction of the print head 40 (scanning direction Y in FIG. 10) during the printing of the nth stage (the first stage in FIG. 8B), As shown in FIG. 8B, each pixel (d1-1 to d1-8 in FIG. 8B) in the printed image of the n-th stage (first stage in FIG. 8B) is originally 8B, the first printed image is compressed and printed so that the dimension in the scanning direction Y is shortened as a whole. In this case, if the print data at the (n + 1) th stage (second stage) is printed as it is, the nth stage (first stage) and the n + 1 stage (second stage) are large as shown in FIG. 8B. The image shifts.

In the distortion detection unit 512, each pixel (d1-1 to d1-8 in FIG. 8B) that constitutes the n-th (first) printed image is printed as design image print data (original data). It is determined by comparing the color etc. of each pixel to which of the pixels (k1-1 to k1-8 in FIG. 8A) corresponds.
Each pixel (d1-1 to d1-8 in FIG. 8B) constituting the n-th (first) printed image and pixels constituting the design image print data (original data) (FIG. K1-1 to k1-8) in A) have position information indicated by x, y coordinates, etc., and the distortion detection unit 512 prints by comparing the position information of corresponding pixels. It is possible to detect how much each pixel of the finished image deviates from the position where it should originally be printed. As a result, it is detected how much the n-th (first) printed image is distorted.
The distortion amount detected by the distortion detection unit 512 may be detected as a shift amount of each pixel, or may be detected as a compression rate or an expansion rate of the entire printed image of the nth stage (first stage). Also good.

The print data correction unit 513 is a print data correction unit that corrects the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning based on the detection result by the distortion detection unit 512 that is a distortion detection unit.
In the present embodiment, the print data correction unit 513 performs correction to compress or expand the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning in the scanning direction Y based on the detection result by the distortion detection unit 512. It has become. When the distortion detection unit 512 detects a distortion in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction Y of the print head 40, the print data may be corrected for a deviation in this direction.

Specifically, for example, when a distortion as shown in FIG. 8B is generated in an n-th (first) printed image, printing is performed by the (n + 1) th scanning according to the distortion amount. Correction is performed to compress or expand the print data of the design image to be scanned or expanded in the scanning direction Y (that is, correction to compress the dimension in the scanning direction Y or to expand to increase the dimension in the scanning direction Y).
That is, the pixel k2-1 constituting the n + 1-stage (second stage) printed image is printed below the pixel d1-1 constituting the n-th stage (first stage) printed image, The print data of the (n + 1) th stage (second stage) is corrected so that k2-2 is printed under d1-2. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8C, the pixels (d2-1 to d2-8) constituting the printed image of the (n + 1) th stage (second stage) are in the nth stage (first stage). It is printed at a position that matches the position of each pixel (d1-1 to d1-8) constituting the printed image, and a high-quality image without distortion can be obtained.

The print control unit 514 is a print control unit that controls the printing operation of the printing unit 40 that is a printing unit so as to print on the nail portion T based on the print data of the design image.
In this embodiment, when the print data of the design image printed in the (n + 1) th scan is corrected by the print data correction unit 513 serving as a print data correction unit, the print control unit 514 is based on the corrected print data. The printing unit 40 is controlled to perform printing by n + 1-th scanning on the nail portion T.

  The storage unit 52 has a distortion detection program for detecting distortion of a printed image, and printing for correcting print data of a design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning based on a detection result by the distortion detection unit 512. Various programs such as a data correction program and a printing program for performing printing processing are stored. The control device 50 executes these programs to control each unit of the nail printing apparatus 1.

In the present embodiment, the storage unit 52 stores a finger image or the like of the user's print finger U1 acquired by the photographing unit 30.
The storage unit 52 is provided with a design image holding area 521 for storing print data (original data) of the design image. The print data of the design image includes information such as color and brightness and position information of each pixel indicated by x, y coordinates and the like for each pixel.
In addition, the storage unit 52 stores the image data (printing state) of the printed image in the n-th scanning acquired by the nail photographing camera 49 which is a printed image acquisition unit (printing state acquisition unit). An image holding area 522 is provided.

Next, a printing control method by the nail printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 16.
When printing is performed by the nail printing apparatus 1, the user first turns on the power switch to activate the control apparatus 50.
The main body control unit 52 causes the display unit 13 to display a design selection screen, and the user operates the operation button 121 or the like of the operation unit 12 to select a desired design image from a plurality of design images displayed on the design selection screen. Is selected, a selection instruction signal is output from the operation unit 12 and one design image is selected. In the present embodiment, a case where a sunflower design image as shown in FIG. 10 is selected will be described as an example.

When a design image to be printed is selected and a print start instruction is input from the operation unit 12, as shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 51 sets n = 1 (step S1), and the nth time (that is, the first time). ) Printing in the nth stage (that is, the first stage) is performed (step S2). In other words, the print control unit 514 reads out the n-th (ie, first) print data of the design image from the design image holding area 522 of the storage unit 52 and outputs it to the printing unit 40. Based on this print data, the n-th (that is, the first stage) printing is performed by the n-th (that is, the first) scanning of the nail part T by the printing unit 40 (see FIGS. 11 and 14).
The control unit 51 determines whether or not the printing of the design image has been completed by the n-th scanning (step S3), and when it is determined that the printing of the design image has been completed (print data waiting for printing). If it is determined that there is no remaining, the print control process ends in step S3; YES).

On the other hand, when it is determined that printing of the design image has not been completed (when it is determined that print data waiting for printing remains, step S3; NO), the control unit 51 moves the print head 46 to n + 1. Move to the stage (here, the second stage) (step S4). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 14 and the like, as an example, the nail portion T is divided into two regions (upper and lower two regions) and one design image is printed by two scans. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 14, after the printing of the nth stage (that is, the first stage) is completed, the control unit 51 moves the print head 46 to the n + 1th stage (here, the second stage) ( 11 and 14).
Then, the shooting control unit 511 controls the nail shooting camera 49 to take an n-th (ie, first) printed image printed on the nail T, and holds the image data as a printed image. It memorize | stores in the area | region 522 (step S5).

Next, the distortion detection unit 512 compares the image data of the n-th (ie, first) printed image with the print data (original data) of the design image (step S6), and the n-th (ie, first). It is determined whether or not there is distortion in the printed image of the first stage (step S7). For example, in the case shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, distortion (compression) in the scanning direction Y occurs in the n-th (ie, first) printed image. For this reason, if printing is performed in the (n + 1) th stage (that is, the second stage) with the original print data, the image printed in the n + 1th stage (that is, the second stage) is scanned in the scanning direction Y as shown in FIG. Therefore, the n-th (ie, first) image and the (n + 1) -th (ie, second) image do not match and a shift occurs. For example, in the case shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, distortion (extension) in the scanning direction Y occurs in the n-th (ie, first) printed image. For this reason, when printing is performed in the (n + 1) th stage (ie, the second stage) with the original print data, the image printed in the (n + 1) th stage (ie, the second stage) is scanned in the scanning direction Y as shown in FIG. As a result, the n-th (ie, first) image and the (n + 1) -th (ie, second) image do not match and a shift occurs.
For this reason, when the distortion detection unit 512 determines that the n-th (that is, the first) printed image has distortion (step S7; YES), the print data correction unit 513 detects the detected distortion. According to the amount, the print data of the (n + 1) th stage (that is, the second stage) in the n + 1th (that is, the second) scan is corrected (step S8). For example, as shown in FIG. 12, when the printed image at the nth stage (that is, the first stage) is compressed and printed in the scanning direction Y from the state to be originally printed, the print data correction unit 513 is printed. Performs correction for compressing the print data in the scanning direction Y in the (n + 1) th stage (that is, the second stage). Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, when the printed image at the nth stage (that is, the first stage) is printed by being expanded in the scanning direction Y from the state to be originally printed, the print data correction is performed. The unit 513 performs correction for expanding the print data of the (n + 1) th stage (that is, the second stage) in the scanning direction Y.

After correction of the print data by the print data correction unit 513 or when the distortion detection unit 512 determines that the n-th (that is, the first) printed image has no distortion (step S7; NO), The control unit 51 newly sets n to n + 1 (step S9), controls the printing unit 40, and performs the (n + 1) th time on the nail T based on the print data (or corrected print data if corrected). Printing in the (n + 1) th stage (that is, the second stage) is performed by scanning (that is, the second time) (step S2).
The control unit 51 repeats the processing from step S2 to step S9 until the printing of the design image on the nail portion T is completed. In the present embodiment, since the printing of the design image is completed by two scans, the (n + 1) th (that is, the second) printing is performed by the (n + 1) th (that is, the second) scanning based on the corrected print data. This completes the printing process. When correction for compressing the print data of the (n + 1) th stage (that is, the second stage) is performed, the length dimension in the scanning direction Y is slightly reduced as shown in FIG. 16), the length dimension in the scanning direction Y is slightly larger as shown in FIG. 16, but in either case, the nth stage (that is, the first stage) and the n + 1th stage are used. It is possible to print a high-quality image in which no deviation or the like occurs at the boundary between eyes (that is, the second stage).

As described above, according to the nail print apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, when the nail portion T is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, after the n-th scan is completed, Image data of a printed image is acquired as a print state in at least the n-th scan, and the n-th time is obtained based on the image data of the printed image and the print data (original data) of the design image in the n-th scan. It is detected whether or not the design image printed by the scan is distorted, and based on the detection result, the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected. For this reason, when printing is performed on the nail portion T by scanning the print head 46 a plurality of times, even if the printing finger U1 moves during the scanning, high-quality printing is achieved by preventing image displacement for each scanning. It can be performed.
In the present embodiment, the print state acquisition unit captures a design image printed on the nail portion T by the printing unit 40 in the n-th scan and acquires a printed image (printed image). The distortion detection unit 512 is printed by the n-th scan by comparing the image data of the printed image acquired by the nail photographing camera 49 with the print data of the design image. This is to detect whether or not the design image is distorted. In this way, since the distortion of the printed image is detected by simply looking at the deviation between the printed image and the original data, the distortion can be reliably detected, and a deviation occurs between the images printed in each scan. Can be effectively prevented.
In this embodiment, the distortion detection unit 512 detects whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scan has a distortion in the scanning direction Y. The print data correction unit 513 Based on the detection result by the distortion detection unit 512, correction for compressing or expanding the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning in the scanning direction (that is, correction or scanning for compressing so that the dimension in the scanning direction is shortened) Correction to expand so that the dimension in the direction becomes longer. For this reason, even when the printing finger U1 slides in the scanning direction Y within the printing finger insertion portion 20a during printing, a consistent design image can be printed as a whole.

In the present embodiment, the distortion detection unit 512 serving as a distortion detection unit compares the image data of the printed image acquired by the nail photographing camera 49 and the print data (original data) of the design image for each pixel. However, the method by which the distortion detection unit 512 detects the distortion amount is not limited to this.
For example, a point that is a feature in the design image (hereinafter referred to as “feature point ra”, see FIGS. 17 to 22) is extracted from the print data of the design image in advance, and this is handled from the image data of the printed image. The distortion amount may be detected by detecting “feature points ra” and determining whether or not there is a difference between the image data of the printed image and the print data of the design image for each feature point ra.

That is, in this case, for example, as shown in FIGS. 17 to 22, the pixels constituting the design image located at the boundary between the first stage printed image and the second stage, Pixels (ra1 and ra4) corresponding to the extreme ends (edge portions) of the design image in the scanning direction Y, and pixels (ra2 and ra4) corresponding to a portion where the color is continuous in the scanning direction Y to some extent in the design image ra3) is determined in advance as a feature point ra, and the distortion detection unit 512 determines whether or not the positions of the feature points ra1 to ra4 are not deviated from the positions to be originally printed.
In the case of FIG. 17, the feature points ra <b> 2 to ra <b> 4 are closer to the left side in FIG. 17 than the original positions, and distortion (compression along the scanning direction Y) occurs in the first-stage image. Therefore, if the print data (original data) of the design image is printed as it is in the second stage, the first stage image and the second stage image cannot be matched, and as shown in FIG. Deviation occurs along the scanning direction Y at the boundary with the second stage. For this reason, when printing the second stage, the second stage print data is corrected to be compressed along the scanning direction Y, and the second stage printing is performed based on the corrected print data. As a result, as shown in FIG. 19, although the entire image is slightly compressed along the scanning direction Y, it is possible to print a high-quality image in which the boundary between the first stage and the second stage is not conspicuous. .
In the case of FIG. 20, the feature points ra2 to ra4 are closer to the right side in FIG. 20 than the positions where they should be, and distortion (extension along the scanning direction Y) occurs in the first-stage image. . For this reason, if the print data (original data) of the design image is printed as it is in the second stage, the first stage image and the second stage image cannot be matched, and as shown in FIG. Deviation occurs along the scanning direction Y at the boundary with the second stage. For this reason, when printing the second stage, the second stage print data is corrected to extend along the scanning direction Y, and the second stage printing is performed based on the corrected print data. As a result, as shown in FIG. 22, although the entire image is slightly expanded along the scanning direction Y, a high-quality image in which the boundary between the first and second stages is not conspicuous can be printed. .

Note that the method of determining the feature point ra is not limited to the example illustrated here, and for example, only the edge portion of the main pattern in the design image may be used as the feature point. Further, the method of extracting the feature points ra may be changed according to the type of design image.
For example, in the case of a design in which the same color is continuous, it is not necessary to determine how far from all the pixels it is from the original position, and even if it is a continuous color break or the entire outline (edge) If the printing position of each stage is aligned in (part), the distortion of the image does not significantly affect the quality of the printed image. Therefore, in such a case, a high-quality image can be printed even when the number of pixels to be compared in the distortion detection is reduced.
Then, by reducing the number of pixels to be compared in this way, the processing speed can be improved as compared with the case of comparing all the pixels.

In the present embodiment, among the image data of the n-th (for example, first) printed image, the pixel located at the boundary with the (n + 1) -th stage is associated with the design image print data (original data). It is determined whether or not there is distortion in the n-th stage image by comparing with each pixel. If there is distortion, the arrangement of each pixel in the (n + 1) -th stage print data is determined as n stages. Although the case where the n + 1-stage print data is compressed or expanded as a whole by correcting it according to the distortion of the image data of the printed image of the eye has been taken as an example, the technique for compressing or expanding the n + 1-stage print data is It is not limited to this.
For example, as described above, when comparing only the pixel corresponding to the feature point ra such as the edge portion of the design among the print data of the design image, the print data of the design image and the printed image are compared. By comparing the distance between the feature points ra with the image data of, and detecting how much the distance between the feature points ra is shorter or longer than it should be, the image of the printed image The data compression rate or expansion rate is obtained, and the print data at the (n + 1) th stage is compressed or expanded as a whole based on the compression rate or expansion rate.
When the compression rate or the expansion rate between the feature points ra is different, the print data at the (n + 1) th stage may be corrected to be compressed or expanded at a different compression rate or expansion rate for each part. For example, in FIG. 17, the distance between the feature point ra1 and the feature point ra2, the distance between the feature point ra2 and the feature point ra3, and the distance between the feature point ra3 and the feature point ra4 are more than the original distances, respectively. If the print data is compressed by 10% along Y, the print data of the (n + 1) th stage is also corrected to be compressed by 10% along the scanning direction Y. Further, for example, the distance between the feature point ra1 and the feature point ra2 is compressed by 10% along the scanning direction Y with respect to the original distance, and the distance between the feature point ra2 and the feature point ra3 is originally When the distance between the characteristic point ra3 and the characteristic point ra4 is compressed by 7% along the scanning direction Y rather than the original distance by 5% compression along the scanning direction Y. The n + 1-stage print data is also compressed by 10% along the scanning direction Y between the feature point ra1 and the feature point ra2, and between the feature point ra2 and the feature point ra3 along the scanning direction Y. The correction is performed by compressing 5%, and compressing 7% along the scanning direction Y between the feature point ra3 and the feature point ra4.

In the present embodiment, the nail photographing camera 49 as the printing state acquisition unit is a camera capable of photographing a high-definition color image, and the image data of the printed image obtained by the nail photographing camera 49 Each pixel in the design image print data corresponds to which pixel in the image data of the printed image by comparing the color of each pixel of the image and the color of each pixel of the print data (original data) of the design image. However, the nail photographing camera 49 is limited to a camera that can shoot a color image. Not.
For example, a camera capable of shooting a black and white image may be used as the nail shooting camera 49. In this case, the distortion detection unit 512 serving as a distortion detection unit is configured so that the luminance and design for each pixel of image data of a printed image By comparing the brightness of each pixel of the print data (original data) of the image, each pixel in the print data of the original design image becomes which pixel in the image data of the printed image printed by the nth scan. The design printed by the n-th scan is determined by determining where each pixel is actually printed on the nail portion T and how much it deviates from the position to be originally printed. The presence / absence of image distortion and the amount of distortion are detected.

In this embodiment, the case where the print state acquisition unit is the nail photographing camera 49 as the printed image acquisition unit is illustrated, but the print state acquisition unit is not limited to the one that acquires the printed image.
For example, the printing finger U1 and the nail part T are photographed by the photographing unit 30 before the n-th scanning is performed by the nail photographing camera 49, so that the printing finger U1 and the nail part before the n-th printing are captured. The position of T may be acquired in advance, and the printing finger U1 and the nail portion T may be photographed again after printing in the n-th scan, and stored in the storage unit 52 as a printing state.
In this case, the distortion detection unit 512 is printed by printing in the nth scan from the amount of displacement between the positions of the print finger U1 and the nail portion T before and after the nth print, for example. It is estimated how much the printed image is deviated from the position where it should be printed, and thereby the amount of distortion is detected.
In addition, when detecting the distortion amount of the image from the image of the printing finger U1 and the nail portion T before and after the n-th printing, the method is not particularly limited. For example, the outline (edge) of the printing finger U1 or the nail portion T is used. The amount of image distortion may be detected based on the amount of displacement of the position, and the edge of the nail T in the width direction (scanning direction Y in FIG. The position of the part away from (skin) (this is referred to as “stress point”) may be compared with the images before and after the n-th printing, and the distortion amount of the image may be detected based on the shift amount of the position.

  In the present embodiment, the nail photographing camera 49 is provided as a printing state acquisition unit separately from the photographing unit 30, but the photographing unit 30 may serve as a printing state acquisition unit.

Furthermore, the printing state acquisition unit is not limited to a printed image acquisition unit such as a camera.
The print state acquisition unit may be any unit that can acquire the print state in at least the nth scan. For example, a sensor (for example, a pressure sensor or a contact sensor) that can detect the movement of the print finger U1 is used as the print finger. It may be arranged on the print finger placement surface on which U1 is placed, and the movement of the print finger U1 itself during printing in the nth scan may be detected by this sensor.
In this case, for example, the distortion detection unit 512 determines how much the image printed by printing in the n-th scanning is deviated from the original printing position from the movement amount of the printing finger U1 detected by the sensor. By estimating, the amount of distortion is detected.

  In this embodiment, the design image holding area 521 and the printed image holding area 522 are provided in the storage unit 52 of the control device 50, but the design image holding area 521 and the printed image holding area are held. The area 522 is not limited to the case where it is provided in the storage unit 52 of the control device 50, and a separate storage unit may be provided.

  In the present embodiment, the nail printing apparatus 1 capable of simultaneously printing on four fingers is taken as an example. However, the present invention is applied to an apparatus that performs printing sequentially by inserting fingers one by one into the apparatus. It is also possible to apply.

  In addition, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can be changed suitably.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof. .
The invention described in the scope of claims attached to the application of this application will be added below. The item numbers of the claims described in the appendix are as set forth in the claims attached to the application of this application.
[Appendix]
<Claim 1>
Printing means for printing on the nail portion based on the print data of the design image;
When the nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, when the n-th scan ends, a print state acquisition unit that acquires at least the print state in the n-th scan;
Distortion for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scanning is distorted based on the printing state in the n-th scanning acquired by the printing state acquisition unit and the print data of the design image. Detection means;
Print data correction means for correcting the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning based on the detection result by the distortion detection means;
When the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected by the print data correction unit, the print is performed so that the n + 1-th scan is printed on the nail portion based on the corrected print data. Printing control means for controlling the means;
A nail printing apparatus comprising:
<Claim 2>
The printing state acquisition unit is a printed image acquisition unit that captures a design image printed on the nail portion by the printing unit in an n-th scan and acquires image data of a printed image;
The distortion detecting unit compares the image data of the printed image acquired by the printed image acquiring unit with the print data of the design image, thereby generating a distortion in the design image printed by the nth scan. The nail print apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail print apparatus detects whether or not the image is detected.
<Claim 3>
The distortion detection means detects whether or not distortion in the scanning direction has occurred in the design image printed by the n-th scanning,
The print data correction unit performs correction to compress or expand print data of a design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning in the scanning direction based on a detection result by the distortion detection unit. The nail print apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.
<Claim 4>
In a printing control method used in a printing apparatus including a printing unit that prints on a nail portion based on print data of a design image,
When the nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, a print state acquisition step for acquiring a print state in at least the nth scan after the nth scan is completed;
Distortion for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the nth scan is distorted based on the print state in the nth scan acquired in the print state acquisition step and the print data of the design image. A detection step;
Based on the detection result in this distortion detection step, a print data correction step for correcting the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan,
In the print data correction step, when the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected, the printing unit is configured to perform printing by the (n + 1) th scan on the nail portion based on the corrected print data. A print control step for controlling
A printing control method comprising:

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Nail printing apparatus 2 Case main body 20a Printing finger insertion part 30 Shooting part 40 Printing part 49 Nail photographing camera 50 Control apparatus 51 Control part 52 Storage part 511 Shooting control part 512 Distortion detection part 513 Print data correction part 514 Print control part 521 Design image holding area 522 Printed image holding area T Nail part U1 Printing finger U2 Non-printing finger

Claims (4)

Printing means for printing on the nail portion based on the print data of the design image;
When the nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, when the n-th scan ends, a print state acquisition unit that acquires at least the print state in the n-th scan;
Distortion for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the n-th scanning is distorted based on the printing state in the n-th scanning acquired by the printing state acquisition unit and the print data of the design image. Detection means;
Print data correction means for correcting the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning based on the detection result by the distortion detection means;
When the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected by the print data correction unit, the print is performed so that the n + 1-th scan is printed on the nail portion based on the corrected print data. Printing control means for controlling the means;
A nail printing apparatus comprising: The printing state acquisition unit is a printed image acquisition unit that captures a design image printed on the nail portion by the printing unit in an n-th scan and acquires image data of a printed image;
The distortion detecting unit compares the image data of the printed image acquired by the printed image acquiring unit with the print data of the design image, thereby generating a distortion in the design image printed by the nth scan. The nail print apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail print apparatus detects whether or not the image is detected. The distortion detection means detects whether or not distortion in the scanning direction has occurred in the design image printed by the n-th scanning,
The print data correction unit performs correction to compress or expand print data of a design image printed by the (n + 1) th scanning in the scanning direction based on a detection result by the distortion detection unit. The nail print apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. In a printing control method used in a printing apparatus including a printing unit that prints on a nail portion based on print data of a design image,
When the nail part is divided into a plurality of regions and one design image is printed by a plurality of scans, a print state acquisition step for acquiring a print state in at least the nth scan after the nth scan is completed;
Distortion for detecting whether or not the design image printed by the nth scan is distorted based on the print state in the nth scan acquired in the print state acquisition step and the print data of the design image. A detection step;
Based on the detection result in this distortion detection step, a print data correction step for correcting the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan,
In the print data correction step, when the print data of the design image printed by the (n + 1) th scan is corrected, the printing unit is configured to perform printing by the (n + 1) th scan on the nail portion based on the corrected print data. A print control step for controlling
A printing control method comprising:

Images