Thermal transfer printing method, printer and computer readable storage medium

Abstract

The present invention provides a thermal transfer printing method, a printer and a computer-readable storage medium. The thermal transfer printing method provided by the first purpose of the present invention includes: obtaining image data; obtaining side line data on both sides; and controlling a print head according to the side line data on both sides and the image data. The printer includes a processor, and the processor is used to implement the above-mentioned thermal transfer printing method when executing a computer program stored in a memory. A computer program is stored on the readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned thermal transfer printing method is implemented when the computer program is executed by the processor. The present invention is based on balanced force on both sides of the paper, and heat is transferred to both sides of the tattoo paper transfer paper layer by the printer print head, so that the dye is melted and attached to both sides of the printed pattern of the base paper. In this process, symmetrical forces are formed on both sides of the tattoo paper, and the forces on both sides are balanced, so that the forces at various locations between the double-layer paper of the tattoo paper have good uniformity, which solves the wrinkle problem, ensures the complete restoration of the tattoo image, and improves the user experience.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of printing technology, and in particular to a thermal transfer printing method for thermal transfer printing tattoo paper, a printer and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] There is technology available that can print out tattoo paper using a thermal transfer printer.

[0003] Tattoo paper mainly consists of a transfer paper layer and a base paper layer. After the printer receives the pattern data and starts printing, the tattoo paper is sent between the rubber roller and the print head. Multiple points of the print head are heated according to the acquired image data, so that the dye of the transfer paper layer is transferred to the base paper, thereby forming a pattern on the base paper. The user can then print the pattern of the base paper onto the skin, thus achieving a one-time tattoo.

[0004] However, the printing of tattoo paper is different from the continuous printing of industrial label paper or packaging paper. The tattoo papers are separated from each other and the printing processes are independent of each other. The tattoo paper will not be subjected to the tension caused by pulling during the printing process. The uneven force generated by the transfer of dyes corresponding to irregular patterns from the transfer paper layer to the base paper layer during the printing process will cause wrinkles on the tattoo paper, and the image will be deformed and distorted when the tattoo is printed, affecting the user experience. Summary of the invention

[0005] The first object of the present invention is to provide a thermal transfer printing method for solving the problem of wrinkles on tattoo paper after printing.

[0006] A second object of the present invention is to provide a printer that solves the problem of wrinkles on tattoo paper after printing.

[0007] A third object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable storage medium that solves the problem of wrinkles on tattoo paper after printing.

[0008] The first objective of the present invention provides a thermal transfer printing method comprising: acquiring image data; acquiring side line data on both sides; and controlling a print head according to the side line data on both sides and the image data.

[0009] It can be seen from the above scheme that the present invention is based on balanced force on both sides of the paper. The heat is transferred to both sides of the tattoo paper transfer paper layer by the printer print head, and the dye is melted and attached to both sides of the printed pattern of the base paper. In this process, symmetrical forces are formed on both sides of the tattoo paper, ensuring that the middle printed content is clearly developed and the force on both sides is balanced, so that the force between the double layers of tattoo paper has good uniformity, solves the wrinkle problem, ensures that the tattoo image is completely restored, and improves user experience.

[0010] A further solution is that the step of obtaining the data of the two side edges includes: obtaining the printing width data, and generating the data of the two side edges according to the printing width data.

[0011] As can be seen from the above, due to different printing paper specifications and different edge positions, the corresponding heating elements on the print head are also different. In this regard, it is best to obtain the print width data for this print based on the paper specifications selected by the user from the mobile phone or other terminal device app. The system then generates width-adapted edge data on both sides based on this data, thereby ensuring that the edge can be effectively printed.

[0012] A further solution is to obtain the print width data and generate the two side line data according to the print width data and the image data.

[0013] Another further solution is that in the step of controlling the print head according to the two side line data and the image data: a spacing is always maintained between the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the two side line data and the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the image data.

[0014] As can be seen from the above, since the final purpose of tattoo paper is to be pasted on the user's skin for pattern rubbing, it is necessary to ensure that the edge line and the pattern can maintain a certain distance. In this regard, after obtaining the image data, it can be adjusted according to whether the interval between the coordinate data of the image data and the edge line data on both sides is greater than the preset value. If not, the adjustment can be controlled to increase the interval, such as offsetting the edge line or reducing the image proportionally. In addition, the edge line area and pattern area can also be preset in the system. After the user adds the picture, the system recognizes the image and automatically adjusts the size ratio to ensure the interval with the edge line.

[0015] Another further solution is that the step of controlling the print head according to the two side line data and the image data includes controlling the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the two side line data to always operate.

[0016] As can be seen from the above, under this setting, the force adjustment effect achieved by printing the edge line runs through the entire printing process, further ensuring that the tattoo paper remains flat and wrinkle-free after printing.

[0017] Another further solution is that the step of controlling the print head according to the two side edge line data and the image data includes controlling the operation of the heating elements arranged axially symmetrically on both sides of the print head according to the two side edge line data.

[0018] As can be seen from the above, under this setting, the printing process of the two side lines with axisymmetric symmetry is carried out simultaneously. Correspondingly, the force changes on both sides also remain symmetrical during the process, which is more conducive to achieving force balance on both sides of the tattoo paper during the printing process.

[0019] A further solution is that after the step of controlling the print head according to the side line data and the image data, the step further includes: using the side line data to print a side line on opposite sides of the base paper of the printing paper, and the two side lines are axially symmetrical.

[0020] A further solution is that the edge line is a straight edge covering the edge of the base paper.

[0021] The second object of the present invention is to provide a printer comprising a processor, and the processor is used to implement the above-mentioned thermal transfer printing method when executing a computer program stored in a memory.

[0022] The third object of the present invention is to provide a readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, and the computer program implements the above-mentioned thermal transfer printing method when executed by a processor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 The present invention is a flow chart of a thermal transfer printing method embodiment.

[0024] Figure 2 It is a partial schematic diagram of a printer embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a print head in an embodiment of a printer of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of tattoo paper in an embodiment of the printer of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 5 This is a first schematic diagram of tattoo paper printed using the thermal transfer printing method of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 6 This is a second schematic diagram of tattoo paper printed using the thermal transfer printing method of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 7 This is a third schematic diagram of tattoo paper printed using the thermal transfer printing method of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Thermal transfer printing method embodiment

[0031] The thermal transfer printing method of the present invention is applied to a thermal transfer printer. Figure 2 The thermal transfer printer of the present invention comprises a print head 1, a rubber roller 2 and a spring 3. The print head 1 and the rubber roller 2 are arranged opposite to each other and a paper feeding channel is formed therebetween. The rubber roller 2 is made of a soft rubber material with a Shore hardness of 41 degrees. A plurality of springs 3 arranged at intervals along the length direction of the print head 1 are arranged between the print head 1 and the body of the printer. The acting force of the spring 3 makes the print head 1 tend to abut against the rubber roller 2. In this way, when the tattoo paper 9 is in the paper feeding channel, the print head 1 and the rubber roller 2 will squeeze the tattoo paper 9 from both sides of the thickness of the tattoo paper 9.

[0032] See also Figure 3As shown in the schematic diagram, the print head 1 is provided with a plurality of heating elements 10 arranged along its length direction, and the number of heating elements 10 is related to the printing pixels. For example, a print head 1 with a printing pixel of 300 dpi needs to include 300 heating elements 10. The heating elements 10 can be heated by electricity.

[0033] Of course, the printer also includes a processor, which is used to implement the above-mentioned thermal transfer printing method when executing the computer program stored in the memory. The processor can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), and application-specific integrated circuits.

[0034] (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), off-the-shelf programmable gate array (Field-Programmable Gate Array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0035] The memory may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, an application required for at least one function (such as a sound playback function, an image playback function, etc.), etc.; the data storage area may store data created according to the use of the mobile phone (such as audio data, a phone book, etc.), etc. In addition, the memory may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk, a memory, a plug-in hard disk, a smart memory card (Smart Media Card, SMC), a secure digital (Secure Digital, SD) card, a flash card (Flash Card), at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices.

[0036] See also Figure 4 In this embodiment, the tattoo paper 9 includes an isolation paper layer 91, a transfer paper layer 92 and a base paper layer 93 which are arranged in sequence. The isolation paper layer 91 is a paper of ordinary material. The transfer paper layer 92 has a dye on one side facing the base paper layer 93. When the tattoo paper 9 is heated by the print head 1, the dye of the transfer paper layer 92 will be transferred to the base paper layer 93; the base paper layer 93 has an oily side facing the transfer paper layer 92 to facilitate the pattern to be separated, so that the user can easily print the pattern on the skin.

[0037] See also Figure 1 The thermal transfer printing method of the present invention comprises:

[0038] The system first performs step S1 to obtain image data. The image data can be generated by identifying an image file, and the image file can be read from the system's memory, or the image file is obtained by the system through a wireless module and sent by the user from a mobile phone or other terminal device.

[0039] Then, the system executes step S2, and also needs to obtain the print width data. Since tattoo papers have different sizes, it is necessary to obtain the print width data consistent with the width of the tattoo paper to be printed to ensure that the target pattern and the edge of the present invention can be accurately printed. The print width data can be obtained by typing in data or a signal received by a wireless module, wherein when the user selects one of the preset multiple print widths by pressing a physical or virtual button on the printer, the system obtains the above-mentioned typed data; wherein, after the user selects the print size through the program of a mobile phone or other terminal device, the terminal device will send a signal to the wireless module of the printer, and the system will identify the corresponding print width data after obtaining the signal.

[0040] Of course, there is no necessary order between the steps of obtaining image data and obtaining print width data. The printing methods in which the system first obtains image data and then obtains print width data, and the printing methods in which the system first obtains print width data and then obtains image data in two different step orders are both within the scope of protection requested by the present invention.

[0041] Then, the system executes step S3 to generate the two-side edge data. Figures 5 to 7 In the three printing cases shown, the side line data on both sides are only associated with the acquired printing width data but not with the acquired image data.

[0042] Then, the system executes step S4 to control the print head according to the image data and the two side edge data.

[0043] Finally, when the end control step S5 is performed, the tattoo paper printing is completed. In addition to printing the target pattern on the base paper layer of the tattoo paper, two side lines are printed on both sides of the width of the target pattern.

[0044] See also Figure 5 In the first printing case shown, the pattern 901 to be printed is a mountain and sun pattern, and the borders 902 to be printed are two straight edges covering the width of the two sides of the bottom paper layer 93. The two borders 902 have the same width and are arranged axially symmetrically. In addition, it should be noted that the straight edges 902 and the pattern 901 should always be spaced apart.

[0045] First, after acquiring the image data of the pattern 901 and the printing width data corresponding to the tattoo paper 9, the system can calculate which heating elements 10 need to work next and the heating rules of these heating elements 10, especially the edge line 902 located at the width edge of the tattoo paper 9 in the present invention, the effectiveness of its printing is directly related to the printing width data.

[0046] In this embodiment, the plurality of heating elements 10 corresponding to the pattern 901 is a first element group 101, and the plurality of heating elements 10 corresponding to each edge line 902 is a second element group 102. The two second element groups 102 are heating elements 10 arranged axially symmetrically on both sides of the print head 1.

[0047] However, since the printed edge lines 902 in this embodiment are two straight edges covering the width edges of the base paper layer 93, when the system executes step S4, it will be necessary to control the two second element groups 102 to work from the start to the end of printing.

[0048] Although two side lines 902 are finally formed on both sides of the tattoo paper in the width direction, the side lines 902 are actually only byproducts that are inevitably produced by the thermal transfer printing method of the present invention, and the side lines 902 themselves are not used as the object of subsequent tattoo rubbing by users. The present invention actually utilizes the symmetrical, continuous and uniform forces generated by the side lines 902 on both sides during the transfer process of printing to exert its effect, and transmits the heat generated by the print head 1 to both sides of the tattoo paper 9, so that the dye is melted and attached to both sides of the pattern 901 of the bottom paper layer 93. In this process, symmetrical and uniform forces will be continuously formed on the opposite sides of the tattoo paper 9. The forces on both sides fully counteract the uneven forces formed by the printed pattern, ensuring that the middle printed content is clearly developed and the forces on both sides are balanced, so that the forces between the double-layer papers of the tattoo paper have better uniformity, solving the wrinkle problem and ensuring the complete restoration of the rubbing tattoo image.

[0049] See also Figure 6 In the second printing case shown, the edge line 903 formed at the end does not cover the edge of the tattoo paper 9, and the starting point of the edge line 903 is consistent with the starting point of the pattern 901. In this way, when the system executes step S4, the two second element groups 102 corresponding to the two edge lines 903 and the first element group 101 corresponding to the pattern 901 start heating work at the same time and end heating work at the same time.

[0050] This method also achieves a good anti-wrinkle effect. Since wrinkles are often caused by uneven forces when printing patterns, you only need to ensure that the edge lines are printed at the same time as the pattern is printed, and the force generated when printing the edge lines can be used to prevent wrinkles.

[0051] See also Figure 7In the third printing situation shown, the edge line 904 finally formed has a certain distance from the edge of the tattoo paper 9, and the edge line 904 is a wider bevel. In addition, the second element group 104 corresponding to the edge line 904 includes more heating elements.

[0052] See also Figures 5 to 7 Comparing the above three printing situations, according to the data of the side lines on both sides, the side lines on both sides finally formed on the tattoo paper 9 are axially symmetrical, and the side lines are always kept apart from the pattern. In order to achieve the above printing effect, therefore, when the system is executing step S4, it is necessary to control the heating elements on both sides of the print head 1 that are axially symmetrically arranged to work, and the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the side line data on both sides and the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the image data are always kept apart.

[0053] On the other hand, the wider the border is, the greater the force will be to resist wrinkles during printing; however, the wider the border is, the closer it is to the pattern, and the greater the impact on the user's tattoo. Therefore, if the width of the border can be maximized while ensuring a certain distance from the pattern, it can produce a better anti-wrinkle effect without affecting the tattoo.

[0054] In this regard, in other embodiments, when the system executes step S3 to generate the data of the two side edges, in addition to generating it according to the print width data, it also generates it according to the pattern data. Furthermore, the system pre-stores the data of the edge spacing. After acquiring the pattern data, the system obtains the remaining width value according to the print width data, the pattern data and the spacing data, and then generates the data of the two side edges and determines the corresponding multiple heating elements that need to be operated according to the remaining width value. In this way, the widest possible edge can be printed without affecting the user's rubbing use, and a more sufficient anti-wrinkle force is generated in the process.

[0055] It is further considered that when the spacing data is constant and the pattern width is too large, the problem of too small sideline width may occur. Therefore, after the system obtains the remaining width value according to the printing width data, pattern data and spacing data, it can also determine whether the remaining width value is less than the preset value. If so, the sideline data on both sides is generated according to the preset value. Furthermore, after the sideline data on both sides is generated according to the preset value, the pattern can be proportionally reduced until the interval between the pattern and the sideline reaches the above spacing data.

[0056] Readable storage medium embodiment

[0057] The computer-readable storage medium of the present invention can be any form of storage medium that can be read by a processor of a computer device, including but not limited to non-volatile memory, volatile memory, ferroelectric memory, etc. A computer program is stored on the computer-readable storage medium. When the processor of the computer device reads and executes the computer program stored in the memory, the steps of the above-mentioned thermal transfer printing method can be implemented.

[0058] The computer program includes computer program code, which may be in source code form, object code form, executable file or some intermediate form, etc. The computer readable medium may include: any entity or device capable of carrying the computer program code, recording medium, USB flash drive, mobile hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electric carrier signal, telecommunication signal and software distribution medium, etc. It should be noted that the content contained in the computer readable medium may be appropriately increased or decreased according to the requirements of legislation and patent practice in the jurisdiction. For example, in some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practice, computer readable media do not include electric carrier signals and telecommunication signals.

[0059] Finally, it should be emphasized that the above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various changes and modifications. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A thermal transfer printing method comprising: Get image data; Features: Generate two-side edge data according to the printing width data; The print head is controlled to print according to the side line data and the image data, so as to print a target pattern on the base paper layer of the tattoo paper and to print two side lines spaced apart from the target pattern on both sides of the width of the base paper layer.

2. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Printing width data is acquired, and the two side line data is generated according to the printing width data and the image data.

3. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step of controlling the print head according to the two side line data and the image data: There is always a gap between the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the two side edge line data and the heating elements on the print head corresponding to the image data.

4. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of controlling the print head according to the two side line data and the image data includes: The heating elements on the print head corresponding to the two-side edge line data are controlled to work all the time.

5. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of controlling the print head according to the two side line data and the image data includes: According to the two side edge line data, the heating elements on the two sides of the print head that are axially symmetrically arranged are controlled to operate.

6. The thermal transfer printing method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: After the step of controlling the print head according to the two side line data and the image data, the method further includes: According to the two-side side line data, a side line is printed on opposite sides of the base paper layer of the tattoo paper, respectively, and the two side lines are axially symmetrical.

7. The thermal transfer printing method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The edge line is a straight edge covering the edge of the base paper.

8. A printer, characterized in that: The printer comprises a processor, and the processor is used to implement the thermal transfer printing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 when executing a computer program stored in a memory.

9. A readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the thermal transfer printing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is implemented.

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