Three-dimensional modeling data creation device and method, and three-dimensional modeling system

Abstract

To provide a three-dimensional modeling data creation device and method, and a three-dimensional modeling system, which are capable of preventing a decrease in quality of a print result due to a color of a base being visible.SOLUTION: There is provided a three-dimensional modeling data creation device that creates three-dimensional modeling data based on image data and height data indicating a height at a position corresponding to the image data. The three-dimensional modeling data creation device comprises: a smoothing processing unit 320 that smooths the height data; a base data creation processing unit 330 that creates base data for forming a three-dimensional shape that serves as a base based on the height data smoothed by the smoothing processing unit 320; and a coloring data creation processing unit 340 that creates coloring data for coloring the three-dimensional shape based on the image data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and more particularly to a three-dimensional modeling method using an inkjet printer. [Background technology]

[0002] UV inkjet printers that use ultraviolet-curable ink (UV ink) have been known for some time. UV inkjet printers eject UV ink onto the printing target (surface to be printed), and then irradiate the ejected UV ink with ultraviolet light (UV light), causing the UV ink to instantly harden and fix.

[0003] With such UV inkjet printers, since there is no drying time required after printing, it is possible to apply multiple layers of ink, and by stacking multiple ink layers, it is also possible to create three-dimensional decorations with a certain degree of height on the surface to be printed.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-16554 describes a three-dimensional object forming apparatus for forming a three-dimensional object, the apparatus including a three-dimensional shape forming head for forming the shape of the three-dimensional object by ejecting droplets of a hardenable liquid, which is a liquid that hardens according to predetermined conditions; a curing means for curing the hardenable liquid ejected by the three-dimensional shape forming head; a coloring head for coloring the three-dimensional object by ejecting ink droplets of a coloring ink based on a print image that is an image to be printed on the surface of the three-dimensional object; and a control unit for controlling operations of the three-dimensional shape forming head, the curing means, and the coloring head, and the control unit controls the three-dimensional shape forming head. The three-dimensional object forming apparatus is characterized in that the head and the curing means perform an operation of forming a laminated three-dimensional object, which is a three-dimensional object consisting of multiple overlapping layers of the cured hardenable liquid by overlapping multiple layers of the hardened hardenable liquid covering a predetermined area, and the coloring head performs a laminated three-dimensional object forming operation to form a laminated three-dimensional object having steps caused by the stacking of at least some of the hardenable liquid layers, and a step covering layer forming operation to form a layer of the hardenable liquid over at least the steps in the laminated three-dimensional object, and the coloring head colors the three-dimensional object after the step covering layer forming operation is performed.The document also describes that by overlapping multiple layers in the laminated three-dimensional object forming operation, a thick three-dimensional object can be appropriately formed, and that by performing the step covering layer forming operation thereafter, unnatural steps caused by the stacking of multiple layers can be appropriately prevented from being noticeable, allowing for the appropriate formation of a three-dimensional object with a natural impression. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-16554 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In an inkjet printer, when considering forming (printing) a desired three-dimensional shape (base) on a surface to be printed by stacking multiple ink layers of a specific color (e.g., white), and then coloring the formed base with color inks (e.g., CMYK inks) to form (print) a desired image, depending on the shape of the base, there may be portions that are difficult to color with color ink. For example, if the shape of the base has a surface that is perpendicular to the surface to be printed (a surface parallel to the ink landing direction), and if that surface has a certain height or greater, it is generally difficult to color the entire surface by ejecting color inks from above. In this case, there will be portions in the printed product where the color of the base (e.g., white) is visible, resulting in a decrease in the quality of the printed image.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of these points, and its object is to provide a data creation device and method for three-dimensional modeling, and a three-dimensional modeling system that can prevent a decrease in the quality of the printed result due to the color of the base being visible. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The three-dimensional modeling data creation device of the present invention is a three-dimensional modeling data creation device that creates three-dimensional modeling data based on image data and height data indicating the height at a position corresponding to the image data, and is equipped with a smoothing processing unit that smoothes the height data, a base data creation processing unit that creates base data for forming a three-dimensional shape that serves as a base based on the height data smoothed by the smoothing processing unit, and a coloring data creation processing unit that creates coloring data for coloring the three-dimensional shape based on the image data.

[0009] According to the three-dimensional modeling data creation device of the present invention, the height data is smoothed, and base data for forming a three-dimensional base shape is created based on the smoothed height data. This makes it possible to prevent the formation of surfaces in the three-dimensional base shape that are parallel to the ink landing direction (vertical surfaces that are difficult to color by ejecting ink from above), and as a result, it becomes possible to prevent a decrease in the quality of the print result due to the color of the base being visible. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the quality of the printed result due to the base color being visible. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a three-dimensional modeling system according to the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a control unit. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the functional configuration (software configuration) of a control unit. [Figure 4] 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining processing in a control unit, in which Fig. 4A shows an example of image data as input data, Fig. 4B shows an example of density value data obtained by converting height data as input data by a gray level processing unit, and Fig. 4C shows an example of density value data obtained by smoothing the density value data shown in Fig. 4B by a smoothing processing unit. [Figure 5] 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining the effect of the smoothing process performed by the smoothing processor, in which Fig. 5A shows an example of the shape of the base corresponding to the density value data before the smoothing process, and Fig. 5B shows an example of the shape of the base corresponding to the density value data after the smoothing process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a three-dimensional modeling system according to the present invention.

[0014] As shown in the figure, a 3D modeling system 100 according to the present invention includes a 3D modeling data creation device 110 and a 3D modeling device 120.

[0015] The 3D modeling data creation device 110 creates 3D modeling data for causing the 3D modeling device 120 to perform 3D modeling, and includes a control unit 111 , an input unit 112 , and a display unit 113 .

[0016] The control unit 111 controls the operation of the 3D modeling data creation device 110, and is configured by, for example, a normal personal computer or other computers. Further details of the control unit 111 will be described later.

[0017] The input unit 112 is used to input user instructions and the like, and in this embodiment includes a keyboard 1121 and a pointing device (a mouse in this embodiment) 1122.

[0018] The display unit 113 is used to display a screen or the like required for creating three-dimensional modeling data, and is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light-emitting display (OLED).

[0019] The 3D modeling device 120 performs 3D modeling on a decoration target set in the 3D modeling device 120 based on 3D modeling data sent from the 3D modeling data creation device 110. More specifically, the 3D modeling device 120 is a printing device that forms a base 3D shape on the decoration target surface by stacking multiple ink layers of a specific color (white in this embodiment) on the decoration target surface, and then colors (prints) the formed 3D shape (base) with process color inks (four colors: cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) in this embodiment), and in this embodiment is configured as a UV inkjet printer. The 3D modeling device 120 includes a UV ink head that ejects UV ink onto the decoration target surface and a UV lamp (UV-LED) that irradiates ultraviolet light onto the UV ink attached to the decoration target surface to cure and fix the UV ink.

[0020] The control unit 111 and the three-dimensional modeling apparatus 120 are connected via a predetermined interface cable (for example, a USB cable) or a wired or wireless LAN, and are configured to be able to send and receive various data.

[0021] Next, the control unit 111 will be described in detail.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the control unit 111. As shown in FIG.

[0023] As shown in the figure, the control unit 111 includes a CPU 210, a ROM 220, a RAM 230, an auxiliary storage interface unit 241, an auxiliary storage device 242, an input control unit 250, a display control unit 260, and a communication unit 270.

[0024] The CPU 210, ROM 220, RAM 230, auxiliary storage interface unit 241, input control unit 250, display control unit 260, and communication unit 270 are each connected to a bus 280. An auxiliary storage device 242 is connected to the auxiliary storage interface unit 241. The input unit 112 is connected to the input control unit 250, and the display unit 113 is connected to the display control unit 260.

[0025] The CPU 210 is a central processing unit that controls the operation of the control unit 111 and realizes various functions provided by the control unit 111 (for example, functions as a data creation device for three-dimensional modeling) by executing programs stored in the ROM 220 and RAM 230.

[0026] The ROM 220 is a read-only storage device (memory) that stores programs and data used by the CPU 210. The RAM 230 is a readable and writable storage device (memory) that temporarily stores programs and data used by the CPU 210.

[0027] The auxiliary storage interface unit 241 controls the exchange of data between the auxiliary storage device 242 and the bus 280. The auxiliary storage device 242 stores the operating system (OS), application software, and other various programs and data used by the CPU 210, and is configured by, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD).

[0028] The input control unit 250 is connected to the input unit 112 (in this embodiment, the keyboard 1121 and the mouse 1122) and controls the exchange of data between the input unit 112 and the bus 280.

[0029] The display control unit 260 is connected to the display unit 113 and controls the display on the display unit 113 .

[0030] The communication unit 270 is connected to the 3D modeling apparatus 120 via a wired or wireless connection, and is used to transmit and receive various data to and from the 3D modeling apparatus 120.

[0031] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the functional configuration (software configuration) of the control unit 111. As shown in FIG.

[0032] As shown in the figure, the control unit 111 includes a gray level processing unit 310, a smoothing processing unit 320, a base data creation processing unit 330, a coloring data creation processing unit 340, and a communication processing unit 350. The functions of each unit 310 to 350 are basically realized by the CPU 210 executing various programs loaded into the RAM 230.

[0033] In this embodiment, image data and height data are given as input data for creating three-dimensional modeling data.

[0034] The image data is data that represents an image to be colored (printed) on the surface (base) to be decorated. For example, the image data may be image data (e.g., a JPEG file) prepared by the user and used as is, or may be created based on print data (e.g., a PDF file) prepared by the user.

[0035] The height data indicates the height of the three-dimensional shape (base) to be formed on the surface to be decorated, and in this embodiment indicates the height of the base at each position corresponding to each pixel of the image data. That is, in this embodiment, the height data has heights (altitudes) equal to the total number of pixels of the image data. The height data is created, for example, based on three-dimensional data of the base prepared by the user.

[0036] The gray level conversion processor 310 converts the height data into density value data. The gray level conversion processor 310 converts the height of each pixel in the height data into density values (gray levels) with a predetermined number of gradations. The number of gradations is selected appropriately depending on the maximum height of the base, the thickness of the ink layer (single layer), and other implementation conditions, but for convenience, the following description will assume that the number of gradations is 256 (8-bit data). In this case, the gray level conversion processor 310 converts, for example, a height of 0 to a density value of 0 and a maximum height to a density value of 255, and converts intermediate heights into density values (1 to 254) proportional to each height. The converted data is formally grayscale image data having the same size as the image data for printing (coloring).

[0037] The smoothing processor 320 smoothes the density value data after conversion by the gray level processor 310. In this embodiment, the smoothing processor 320 uses a Gaussian filter. Note that a single Gaussian filter with a predetermined strength (kernel size) may be used, or multiple Gaussian filters with different strengths may be prepared so that the user can select a Gaussian filter with an appropriate strength while performing test printing.

[0038] The base data creation processing unit 330 creates base data for forming a three-dimensional shape that serves as a base on the surface to be decorated, based on the density value data smoothed by the smoothing processing unit 320. The base data creation processing unit 330 creates print output data (base data) for layering a number of ink layers corresponding to the density values on the surface to be decorated, based on the density value data smoothed by the smoothing processing unit 320.

[0039] The coloring data creation processing unit 340 creates print output data (coloring data) for printing an image on a base formed on the surface to be decorated, based on the image data.

[0040] The communication processing unit 350 transmits the base data passed from the base data creation processing unit 330 and the coloring data passed from the coloring data creation processing unit 340 to the 3D modeling device 120 as 3D modeling data.

[0041] Next, the processing in the control unit 111 having the above configuration will be described.

[0042] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the processing in the control unit 111. As shown in FIG.

[0043] 1(a) shows an example of image data as input data, FIG. 1(b) shows an example of density value data obtained by converting height data as input data by a gray level processing unit 310, and FIG. 1(c) shows an example of density value data obtained by smoothing the density value data shown in FIG. 1(b) by a smoothing processing unit 320. Note that FIG. 1(a) is originally a color image, but is shown as a grayscale image for convenience.

[0044] In the example shown in Fig. 1(b), the graphic portions 401-405 and the text portion 406 have height components, and relatively taller portions (pixels) are displayed darker. The graphic portions 401-405 and the text portion 406 each have a large difference in density from their surrounding portions (white portions), resulting in a clear image. Note that, as shown in Fig. 1(a), in this example, in addition to the graphic portions 401-405 and the text portion 406, the surrounding portions are also colored.

[0045] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1(c), in the smoothed density value data, the portions (edge portions) where the density value (height) changes suddenly (discontinuously) are smoothed, resulting in a blurred image.

[0046] 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining the effect of the smoothing process performed by the smoothing processor 320. Fig. 5A shows an example of the shape of the base corresponding to the density value data before the smoothing process, and Fig. 5B shows an example of the shape of the base corresponding to the density value data after the smoothing process.

[0047] In the example shown in Figure 1(a), vertical surfaces are formed in the portions (edge portions) 501 to 504 where the height changes suddenly (discontinuously), and when the height of the surfaces exceeds a certain level, it becomes difficult to color them by ejecting ink from above.

[0048] In contrast, when smoothing processing is performed, the change in height of the corresponding parts 511 to 514 becomes gentler, as shown in the same figure (b), and as a result, vertical surfaces almost disappear (the height of the vertical surfaces becomes below a certain level), making it possible to color by ejecting ink from above.

[0049] As explained above, in the above-mentioned three-dimensional modeling system, height data indicating the height of the three-dimensional shape that serves as the base for three-dimensional modeling is converted into density value data, which is then smoothed, and base data is created based on the smoothed density value data.This makes it possible to prevent the formation of surfaces that are parallel to the ink landing direction (vertical surfaces that are difficult to color by ejecting ink from above), and as a result, it becomes possible to prevent a decrease in the quality of the print result due to the color of the base being visible.

[0050] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned three-dimensional modeling system, first, the three-dimensional modeling data creation device creates base data and coloring data as three-dimensional modeling data, and then, in the three-dimensional modeling device (printing device), a three-dimensional base shape is formed based on the base data, and then coloring (printing) is performed on the three-dimensional base shape based on the coloring data.Therefore, it is possible to improve the quality of coloring compared to, for example, when coloring is performed while forming the base.

[0051] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a Gaussian filter was used as the smoothing filter, but it is also possible to use or select another type of filter (for example, an average (averaging) filter). Furthermore, it is preferable that the strength of the smoothing filter be set to a strength that smooths the base data so as to reduce vertical surfaces by grading the change in height of the base shape while maintaining the appearance of the base shape, as shown in FIG. 5(b).

[0052] In the above-described embodiment, the gray level processor converts the height of each pixel in the height data into a density value (gray level) with a predetermined number of gradations, but it is also possible to use the height of each pixel as the density value of each pixel as is. In this case, the gray level processor outputs the same value as the input height of each pixel as the density value of each pixel.

[0053] In the above-described embodiment, only the base data is smoothed, but the coloring data may also be smoothed using the smoothing filter used to smooth the base data.

[0054] In the above-described embodiment, the three-dimensional base shape is formed with white ink, but the three-dimensional base shape may also be formed with process color ink used for coloring. In other words, the base data and the coloring data may be data using ink of the same color.

[0055] In the above-described embodiment, the three-dimensional modeling device forms a three-dimensional shape on the surface of the object to be decorated (three-dimensional decoration that changes only the appearance or texture of the surface of the object to be decorated or 2.5 mm printing), but it may also form a three-dimensional object having a three-dimensional shape (so-called three-dimensional modeling). In the present invention, "three-dimensional modeling" includes both three-dimensional decoration and three-dimensional modeling. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 100 3D Modeling System 110 3D modeling data creation device 111 Control Unit 112 Input section 1121 Keyboard 1122 Pointing Device (Mouse) 113 Display section 120 Three-dimensional modeling equipment 210 CPU 220 ROM 230 RAM 241 Auxiliary Memory Interface Unit 242 Auxiliary storage 250 Input control section 260 Display control unit 270 Communications Department 280 Bus 310 Gray level processing unit 320 Smoothing processing unit 330 Foundation data creation processing unit 340 Coloring data creation processing unit 350 Communication processing unit

Claims

1. 1. A three-dimensional modeling data creation device that creates three-dimensional modeling data based on image data and height data indicating heights at positions corresponding to the image data, a smoothing processing unit that smoothes the height data; a base data creation processing unit that creates base data for forming a three-dimensional shape that serves as a base based on the height data smoothed by the smoothing processing unit; a coloring data creation processing unit that creates coloring data for coloring the three-dimensional shape based on the image data; A data creation device for three-dimensional modeling comprising:

2. The three-dimensional modeling data creation device according to claim 1 ; a three-dimensional modeling device that performs three-dimensional modeling based on the base data and the coloring data created by the three-dimensional modeling data creation device; Equipped with The three-dimensional modeling apparatus includes: forming a three-dimensional shape that serves as a base by stacking ink layers based on the base data; The three-dimensional shape is colored based on the coloring data. 3D modeling system.

3. A method for creating three-dimensional modeling data, which creates three-dimensional modeling data based on image data and height data indicating heights at positions corresponding to the image data, comprising: a smoothing step of smoothing the height data; a base data creation step of creating base data for forming a three-dimensional shape that serves as a base based on the height data smoothed in the smoothing step; a coloring data creating step of creating coloring data for coloring the three-dimensional shape based on the image data; A method for creating data for three-dimensional modeling, including:

4. A three-dimensional modeling method for performing three-dimensional modeling based on base data and coloring data created by the three-dimensional modeling data creating method according to claim 3, a shape forming step of forming a three-dimensional shape serving as a base by stacking ink layers based on the base data; a coloring step of coloring the three-dimensional shape based on the coloring data; A three-dimensional modeling method comprising:

Images