Printing device, printing system, printing method, and program

Abstract

To perform printing on multiple printing surfaces of an assembled packaging material with a simple configuration in a printing device, printing system, printing method, and program.SOLUTION: A conveying mechanism 420 that conveys a packaging material P (P1, P2) accommodating a product includes: a printing conveyance part 421 that conveys the packaging material P in a printing part 410; a circulation conveyance part 422 that branches from the downstream side in the conveyance direction relative to the printing part 410 of the printing conveyance part and merges with the upstream side in the conveyance direction relative to the printing part 410 of the printing conveyance part 421; and a rotation part 423 that rotates the packaging material P (second packaging material P2) in the circulation conveyance part. A control part includes: a printing surface information acquisition section that acquires a printing image (advertisement image Pa) to be printed on the packaging material P and printing surface information of the printing image; a printing control section that controls the printing part 410 on the basis of the printing image; and a conveyance control section that controls the conveying mechanism 420 to convey the packaging material P (P2) to the circulation conveyance part 422 on the basis of the printing surface information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing device, a printing system including the printing device and a print content determination device, a printing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, a method is known in which an advertising display section, a product display section, etc. are printed on an advertising medium such as a paper container for liquid before assembly, and then the advertising medium is assembled (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Furthermore, as a method for printing on an assembled print medium, a method is known in which droplets are ejected onto the side surface of a three-dimensional print medium transported on a belt conveyor (see, for example, Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-181573 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-144290 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When packaging products sold on an EC (Electronic Commerce) site, advertising images and other information determined based on the products to be contained in the packaging cannot be printed on the packaging before assembly. Also, when printing on assembled packaging on a belt conveyor as described above, if there are multiple printing surfaces, multiple printing devices must be installed.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device, a printing system, a printing method, and a program that are capable of printing on multiple printing surfaces of assembled packaging material with a simple configuration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In one aspect, a printing device includes a conveying mechanism that conveys packaging material containing products, a printing unit that prints on the packaging material conveyed by the conveying mechanism, and a control unit that controls the conveying mechanism and the printing unit. The conveying mechanism includes a printing and conveying unit that conveys the packaging material in the printing unit, and a circulating conveying unit that branches off from the printing and conveying unit downstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit and joins the printing and conveying unit upstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit. The control unit includes a printing surface information acquisition unit that acquires a printed image to be printed on the packaging material and printed surface information of the printed image, a printing control unit that controls the printing unit based on the printed image, and a conveying control unit that controls the conveying mechanism to convey the packaging material to the circulating conveying unit based on the printed surface information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to this aspect, printing can be performed on a plurality of printing surfaces of the assembled packaging material with a simple configuration. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing device, a print content determination device, and the like according to an embodiment; [Figure 2] It is an explanatory diagram for explaining printing of an advertisement image on packaging material. [Figure 3] FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of print request information according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a first advertising image printed on a single printing surface and a second advertising image printed on multiple printing surfaces in one embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an outline of the functions of each device in one embodiment. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining print content according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a printing method according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing device, a print content determination device, and the like in a modified example of an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A printing apparatus, a printing system, a printing method, and a program according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing device 400, a print content determination device 100, and the like according to an embodiment.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the printing device 400. As shown in FIG.

[0013] 1 includes a control unit 110, a storage unit 120, an input unit 130, a display unit 140, and an interface unit 150. The printing content determination device 100 communicates with an advertising agency terminal 200, an EC server 300, a printing device 400, and the like via a network.

[0014] The control unit 110 has, for example, one or more processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit) that function as an arithmetic processing device that controls the operation of each unit of the printing content determination device 100. This processor functions as a sales information acquisition unit 111, a print image determination unit 112, and a print surface information determination unit 113 by, for example, reading and executing a predetermined program from the storage unit 120 or from a storage medium (a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the printing content determination device 100. In this way, the control unit 110 (or the printing content determination device 100) functions as an example of a computer that executes a program.

[0015] The sales information acquisition unit 111 acquires sales information of a product, for example, from the EC server 300. This sales information includes, for example, attribute information of the recipient (purchaser) of the product, attribute information of the product, etc. The purchase attribute information may include, for example, at least one of age information, delivery address information, purchase history information (information such as purchase frequency, cumulative purchase amount, purchase amount over a certain period of time), web browsing history information, etc. The product attribute information may include at least one of information representing a specific product, product category information, price range information, etc. Note that, except when a purchaser purchases a product as a gift, the recipient and the purchaser are often the same person. Therefore, the sales information acquisition unit 111 may acquire attribute information of the purchaser as sales information instead of or in addition to the recipient attribute information.

[0016] The print image determination unit 112 determines an advertising image Pa, which is an example of a print image to be printed on the packaging material P, based on the sales information acquired by the sales information acquisition unit 111 and multiple pieces of advertising request information (shown in FIG. 3) specified by the advertising client. For example, the print image determination unit 112 determines the advertising image Pa by extracting the advertising image Pa corresponding to the advertising request information that has the highest degree of match with the sales information. Note that this method of determining the advertising image Pa is merely an example, and any method may be adopted. Note that the packaging material P is, for example, a cardboard box, but may also be other packaging material P such as a plastic case. However, since printing is performed on one or more printing surfaces of the packaging material P by the printing unit 410 of the printing device 400, it is desirable that the packaging material P having multiple printing surfaces be at least a polyhedral solid such as a rectangular parallelepiped or a cube.

[0017] Here, the higher the degree of match between the advertising request information and the sales information, the higher the advertising fee may be set for the advertising image Pa. This advertising fee is determined based on, for example, the handling fee (printing cost) of the delivery center, the handling fee of the administrator of the printing content determination device 100, the handling fee of the advertising agency of the advertising agency terminal 200, etc., as well as points awarded to the recipient when the recipient views the advertisement from the two-dimensional code (URL) of the advertising image Pa (for example, points awarded by the printing content determination device 100 or the EC site).

[0018] As shown in FIG. 3, the advertising request information may include the publication period, the quantity (number of times advertising), and the above-mentioned product and purchaser attribute information as advertising destination information. The advertising request information may also include packaging information (such as the size of the print area, the size, shape, color (brown, white, etc.) and material of the packaging P) described below in order to specify the packaging P. This advertising request information, along with the advertising image Pa shown in FIG. 3, may be sent from the advertising client to the advertising agency terminal 200, and the advertising request may then be sent from the advertising agency terminal 200 to the printing content determination device 100. Note that a single advertising request may include multiple advertising images Pa. The advertising image Pa may be generated, for example, by the advertising agency terminal 200 or the printing content determination device 100.

[0019] The print side information determination unit 113 determines the print side information of the advertisement image Pa based on the advertisement image Pa determined by the print image determination unit 112 and packaging information of the packaging material P (such as the size of the print area, the size, shape, color (brown, white, etc.) of the packaging material P, and the like) acquired from the printing device 400. This print side information is, for example, information specifying one or more print sides (for example, one side of the front or side, or two sides such as the front and right side, or the right side and back). If the above-mentioned advertising request information includes the print side information, the print side information determination unit 113 may determine the print side information included in the advertising request information as the print side information as is. Note that the print content determination device 100 may previously acquire packaging information of multiple types of packaging material P from the printing device 400, select one packaging material P from multiple packaging materials P (for example, packaging materials P printed with a sales product name) according to the size of the packaging material P corresponding to the sales information, and determine the print side information for the selected packaging material P. Alternatively, the printing content determination device 100 may inquire of the printing device 400 and acquire packaging information of the packaging material P corresponding to the sales information each time sales information is received from the EC server 300. Furthermore, if the EC server 300 holds packaging information corresponding to the sales information (packaging information of the packaging material P that contains the sales product), the printing content determination device 100 may acquire the packaging information from the EC server 300 together with the sales information.

[0020] For example, if the size of the advertising image Pa exceeds the size of the printing area on one side of the packaging material P, the printing surface information determination unit 113 determines that the printing surfaces of the advertising image Pa are to be allocated to two sides of the packaging material P. Note that, since the advertising client may not want the advertising image Pa to be printed on multiple sides, the advertising request information may include setting information on whether multiple-side printing is possible, and the printing surface information determination unit 113 may determine the printing surfaces based on this setting information on whether multiple-side printing is possible. Also, if the size of the advertising image Pa exceeds the size of the printing area on the packaging material P and the setting information on whether multiple-side printing is possible included in the advertising request information indicates that multiple-side printing is not possible, the printing surface information determination unit 113 may reduce the advertising image Pa to fit the size of the printing area on the packaging material P. In this way, setting information on whether the advertising image Pa can be reduced (or enlarged or the aspect ratio changed) may also be included in the advertising request information. Note that the advertising fee paid by the advertising client may vary depending on the printing area of ​​the advertising image Pa (reduction, enlargement, or change of the aspect ratio).

[0021] 4, when the packaging material P is a first packaging material P1 having a printing area (shown surrounded by dashed lines at the top and bottom) of a single printing surface that can accommodate the advertising image Pa, the printing surface information determination unit 113 determines that the single printing surface is the printing surface of the first advertising image Pa1 (advertising image Pa). Note that the packaging material P is pre-printed with the characters "ABC Market" representing the seller, the characters "D00-12345" representing the product identification number, a barcode, and the like, for example, by flexographic printing.

[0022] Furthermore, if the packaging material P is a second packaging material P2 that does not have a single printing surface printing area that can accommodate the advertising image Pa, the printing surface information determination unit 113 determines two adjacent printing surfaces as the printing surfaces for the second advertising image Pa2 (advertising image Pa). In this case, the printing surface information determination unit 113 preferably determines the division position so that the division between the image on one printing surface and the image on the other printing surface is located at the edge of the second packaging material P2. Note that the second advertising image Pa2 in FIG. 4 has a portion of its top edge cut off, and it is preferable that the advertising request information include a setting that allows for such partial cutting. In particular, when the advertising image Pa is printed across multiple surfaces, if there is any excess printing area on the packaging material P, it is preferable that the excess area be printed with information such as the advertising client (the characters "A motors"), website access information (e.g., a two-dimensional code, characters for keyword search), and an indication that it is an advertisement (the characters "On Sale!") in addition to the advertising image Pa, as shown on the left side of the second advertising image Pa2 in FIG. 4. In FIG. 2, the first packaging material P1, in which the advertising image Pa (first advertising image Pa1) fits on a single printing surface, is illustrated larger than the second packaging material P2, in which the advertising image Pa (second advertising image Pa2) does not fit on a single printing surface.

[0023] After determining which type of packaging material P the advertising image Pa will be printed on, the printing surface information determination unit 113 may divide the advertising image Pa if the size or aspect ratio of the advertising image Pa (image data) is set large compared to the size or aspect ratio of the printing area of ​​the packaging material P, or if the aspect ratio changes significantly when the advertising image Pa is reduced to fit into the printing area of ​​a single printing surface.

[0024] Furthermore, printing of advertising images Pa across multiple surfaces is not limited to adjacent surfaces. For example, consider a case where two types of advertising images Pa are prepared to create a three-dimensional effect of a car, and two advertising images Pa are included in a single advertising request: one is an image of the car from a front angle, and the other is an image of the car from a rear angle. In this case, it can be said that the advertising request information includes printing surface information (two opposing surfaces). The printing surface information determination unit 113 determines the two opposing printing surfaces according to the size of the printing area on each surface of the packaging material P.

[0025] Furthermore, the printing surfaces of packaging material P are not limited to the four side surfaces when the box is assembled, but can also be the top and bottom surfaces. The bottom surface is the surface that is seen by the recipient when they disassemble the cardboard box and take it out for recycling, so advertising materials with environmental appeals can be printed on it. Also, printing settings can be changed on multiple printing surfaces. Ink usage can be reduced by printing in full color on surfaces with relatively large areas and in two colors on surfaces with relatively small areas.

[0026] The storage unit 120 includes, for example, a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is pre-recorded, a RAM (Random Access Memory), which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs, a hard disk drive, etc. Note that the storage unit 120 may include an external storage device (database) when, for example, advertising images Pa are pre-stored.

[0027] The input unit 130 has, for example, a touch panel, operation keys, a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and accepts input of various information.

[0028] The display unit 140 is a display that displays various types of information.

[0029] The interface unit 150 exchanges various information with external devices such as the advertising agency terminal 200, the EC server 300, and the printing device 400. For example, the interface unit 150 receives advertising request information from the advertising agency terminal 200, receives product sales information from the EC server 300, and transmits an advertising image Pa (print image) and printing surface information to the printing device 400.

[0030] The advertising agency terminal 200 is, for example, a terminal of an advertising agency that recruits advertising clients and transmits advertising images Pa and advertising request information determined by the advertising clients to the printing content determination device 100. The advertising agency terminal 200 can also be called a matching organization or a matching association. The advertising agency terminal 200 may also be an affiliate service provider.

[0031] The advertising agency terminal 200 comprises a control unit 210, a storage unit 220, and an interface unit 230. Like the printing content determination device 100, the advertising agency terminal 200 may further comprise an input unit and a display unit.

[0032] The control unit 210 has a processor (e.g., a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit. This processor reads and executes a predetermined program, for example, from the storage unit 220 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the advertising agency terminal 200. The storage unit 220 has, for example, a ROM, which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is pre-recorded, and a RAM, which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. The interface unit 230 exchanges various information with external devices such as the printing content determination device 100.

[0033] The EC server 300 is a server device that manages product information and sales information (recipient attribute information and product attribute information) to operate, for example, an EC site (own EC site) that sells products of one business on a website or an EC site (mall-type EC site) that sells products of multiple business operators. The EC server 300 may be used to operate multiple own EC sites.

[0034] The EC server 300 includes a control unit 310, a storage unit 320, and an interface unit 330. Like the printing content determination device 100, the EC server 300 may further include an input unit and a display unit.

[0035] The control unit 310 has a processor (e.g., a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing unit. This processor reads and executes a predetermined program from, for example, the storage unit 320 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the EC server 300. The storage unit 320 includes, for example, a ROM, which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which a predetermined control program is pre-recorded, and a RAM, which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. The interface unit 330 exchanges various information with external devices such as the printing content determination device 100 and the printing device 400.

[0036] The printing device 400 is located, for example, in a distribution center. This distribution center is, for example, a 3PL (Third Party Logistics) that packs products purchased on the EC site of the EC server 300 into packaging material P and prints advertising images Pa on the packaging material P. The printing device 400 may also function as a delivery management device that manages the delivery (shipping, etc.) of products. The printing device 400 may also transmit packaging material information of the packaging material P (size of the printing area, size, shape, color, material, etc. of the packaging material P) to the printing content determination device 100 as information used by the printing surface information determination unit 113 of the printing content determination device 100 to determine the printing surface information of the advertising image Pa.

[0037] The printing device 400 includes a printing unit 410, a transport mechanism 420, a control unit 430, a storage unit 440, and an interface unit 450. A system including the printing device 400 and the print content determination device 100 can be called a printing system.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 410 prints advertising images Pa (first advertising images Pa1 and second advertising images Pa2) on packaging materials P (first packaging materials P1 and second packaging materials P2) conveyed by the conveying mechanism 420. The printing unit 410 may also print content that is to be printed in advance on the packaging material P by, for example, flexographic printing, such as the characters "ABC Market" representing the seller, the characters "D00-12345" representing the product identification number, and a barcode, as described above. It may also be desirable to print, on the packaging material P, not only the advertising images Pa, but also product names, expiration dates, handling information, barcodes, two-dimensional codes, and the like, depending on the products contained in the packaging material P. Therefore, the printed image in this embodiment is not limited to the advertising images Pa, but may include any image, such as a product name image, expiration date image, handling information image, or code image (a barcode image or a two-dimensional code image). The code image may be, for example, a two-dimensional code corresponding to a URL for displaying the advertising image on a website. Furthermore, the advertising image Pa may consist of only the logo of the seller (company) or product, or may consist of the text of the seller's name or product name, and is not particularly limited as long as it has at least some advertising effect.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 2 , the printing unit 410 ejects ink in a horizontal direction (rearward) to perform printing. This horizontal direction is a direction intersecting the vertical direction and the transport direction (to the right) of the packaging material P in the printing unit 410, e.g., the horizontal direction. However, the printing unit 410 may eject ink in other directions, such as vertically downward, when printing on the top surface of the packaging material P. A stop plate against which the packaging material P is abutted may be disposed around the printing unit 410 to ensure a gap between the printing unit 410 and the packaging material P. The printing unit 410 may use a printing method other than inkjet printing, such as a thermal method. From the perspective of printing advertising images Pa corresponding to the products contained in the packaging material P, the printing unit 410 preferably prints on the packaging material P in an assembled state (boxed state) after the products are contained and sealed. However, the printing unit 410 may also print on the packaging material P in an assembled state before the products are contained.

[0040] The conveying mechanism 420 has a printing conveying section 421, a circulating conveying section 422, and a rotating section 423, and conveys packaging material P that contains products.

[0041] 2, the printing conveying section 421 extends linearly to the right and conveys the packaging material P in the printing section 410. The printing conveying section 421 is, for example, a conveyor such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor. Note that the printing conveying section 421 may be provided with a guide plate that regulates the conveying position of the packaging material P in order to press the packaging material P toward the printing section 410 (such as the abutment plate described above), or with diagonal conveying rollers that convey the packaging material P diagonally (horizontally) toward the printing section 410.

[0042] The circulating transport unit 422 branches off from the print transport unit 421 downstream of the print unit 410 in the transport direction (right side in FIG. 2) and merges with the print transport unit 421 upstream of the print unit 410 in the transport direction (left side in FIG. 2). The circulating transport unit 422 has a first transport unit 422a, a second transport unit 422b, and a third transport unit 422c. The first transport unit 422a extends linearly rearward from the print transport unit 421. The second transport unit 422b extends linearly leftward from the rear end of the first transport unit 422a. The third transport unit 422c extends linearly forward from the rotation unit 423 located on the left side of the second transport unit 422b to the print transport unit 421. Similarly to the printing transport section 421, the circulating transport section 422 (first transport section 422a, second transport section 422b, and third transport section 422c) is a conveyor such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor.

[0043] The packaging material P can be transferred from the printing conveying unit 421 to the circulating conveying unit 422, for example, by conveying the packaging material P by the printing conveying unit 421 to a position where the conveyors of the printing conveying unit 421 and the circulating conveying unit 422 (first conveying unit 422a) overlap in a comb-like shape, and then stopping the driving of the printing conveying unit 421 and starting the driving of the circulating conveying unit 422. Such transfer of the packaging material P can also be performed between the first conveying unit 422a and the second conveying unit 422b of the conveying mechanism 420, and between the third conveying unit 422c and the printing conveying unit 421. The packaging material P can be transferred between the second conveying unit 422b and the rotating unit 423, and between the rotating unit 423 and the third conveying unit 422c, by a robot hand or the like disposed in the rotating unit 423.

[0044] However, the transfer of packaging material P may be performed, for example, by the conveying control unit 433 driving a flipper arranged on the conveying path, or by using a pressing mechanism that presses packaging material P toward another conveying unit, and the method of transfer is not particularly limited.

[0045] The rotating unit 423 rotates the packaging material P in the circulating conveying unit 422. As described above, the rotating unit 423 is located to the left of the second conveying unit 422b and behind the third conveying unit 422c. The rotating unit 423 is, for example, a turntable, and rotates the packaging material P by an angle of, for example, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees in order to change the printing surface of the packaging material P (the surface facing the printing unit 410) to another printing surface. Note that the rotating unit 423 may be, for example, a suction arm (robot hand) that clamps opposing sides of the packaging material P and rotates the packaging material P so that the bottom surface of the packaging material P faces the side. In this case, printing can be performed on the bottom or top surface of the packaging material P by the printing unit 410. Furthermore, if the circulating conveying unit 422 can rotate the packaging material P by extending while curving, the rotating unit 423 can be omitted. In this case, the curved portion of the circulating conveying unit 422 can also function as the rotating unit.

[0046] 2, a single printing unit 410 is arranged in the printing and transporting unit 421, but for example, a second printing unit that prints from the opposite side of the printing unit 410 may be arranged in the printing and transporting unit 421. This second printing unit may be arranged in the circulating and transporting unit 422. When two printing units are arranged, the packaging material P circulates through the circulating and transporting unit 422 and is rotated by the rotating unit 423, so that printing can be performed on a total of four printing surfaces by the two printing units.

[0047] Furthermore, the conveyance control unit 433 may convey the packaging material P to the circulating conveyance unit 422 two or more times. In this case, printing can be performed on three or more printing surfaces by a single printing unit 410. Furthermore, if two printing units are arranged in the printing conveyance unit 421 as described above, conveying the packaging material P to the circulating conveyance unit 422 twice can print on a total of six printing surfaces.

[0048] The control unit 430 has, for example, a processor (e.g., a CPU) that functions as an arithmetic processing device that controls the operation of each unit of the printing device 400. This processor reads and executes a predetermined program, for example, from the storage unit 440 or from a storage medium (a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from the printing device 400. In this way, the control unit 430 functions as an example of a computer that executes a program. The control unit 430 may include a computer that controls the printing unit 410 and a computer that controls the transport mechanism 420. The computer that controls the printing unit 410 may also be called a print control device.

[0049] The storage unit 440 includes, for example, a ROM, which is a read-only semiconductor memory in which predetermined control programs are pre-recorded, and a RAM, which is a semiconductor memory that can be written and read at any time and is used as a working storage area as needed when the processor executes various control programs. The interface unit 450 exchanges various types of information with external devices such as the printing content determination device 100 and the EC server 300.

[0050] Here, a method for determining print contents and a printing method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 7. Note that explanations of matters that overlap with the above explanation will be omitted as appropriate.

[0051] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an outline of the functions of each device such as the print content determination device 100, the advertising agency terminal 200, the EC server 300, and the printing device 400. As shown in FIG.

[0052] As shown in Fig. 5, the advertising agency terminal 200 solicits advertising clients. The advertising agency terminal 200 acquires advertising images Pa and advertising request information, for example, as shown in Fig. 3, from the advertising clients who have applied, and transmits these advertising images Pa and advertising request information to the printing content determination device 100.

[0053] When the EC server 300 sells a product to a purchaser, it registers sales information and delivery information in the memory unit 320 of the EC server 300 or an external database based on the product order information and purchaser information, transmits the sales information to the print content determination device 100, and transmits delivery information (delivery request) to the printing device 400.

[0054] The printing content determination device 100 determines the advertising image Pa based on the product sales information acquired from the EC server 300 and the advertising request information acquired from the advertising agency terminal 200. Furthermore, the printing content determination device 100 (printing surface information determination unit 113) determines the printing surface information of the advertising image Pa (for example, one surface such as the front, or two surfaces such as the front and right side) based on the advertising image Pa and the packaging material information of the packaging material P acquired from the printing device 400.

[0055] The delivery center (printing device 400) packs the product into packaging material P based on the delivery request from the EC server 300. The delivery center (printing device 400) also prints the advertising image Pa on the packaging material P based on the advertising image Pa and printing surface information determined by the print content determination device 100. Then, the product packed in the packaging material P on which the advertising image Pa is printed is delivered to a recipient (for example, the same person as the purchaser) by a shipping company.

[0056] Next, a method for determining the print contents will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0057] The processing shown in FIG. 6 may be performed by the control unit 110 of the printing content determination device 100, for example, when a product is sold on the EC site of the EC server 300, based on the printing content determination device 100 receiving sales information from the EC server 300.

[0058] First, the sales information acquisition unit 111 of the control unit 110 acquires sales information of the product from the EC server 300 (step S11). As described above, this sales information includes attribute information of the recipient (purchaser) of the product and attribute information of the product.

[0059] Next, the print image determination unit 112 determines, for example, an advertising image Pa corresponding to the advertising request information that has the highest degree of compatibility with the sales information based on the sales information acquired by the sales information acquisition unit 111 and the advertising request information specified by the advertising client (step S12).

[0060] Next, the printing surface information determination unit 113 determines the printing surface information of the advertising image Pa based on the determined advertising image Pa and the packaging material information of the packaging material P obtained from the printing device 400 (step S13), and the processing shown in Figure 6 ends.

[0061] Next, the printing method will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0062] The process shown in FIG. 7 may be performed by the control unit 430 of the printing device 400, for example, based on the printing device 400 receiving the advertising image Pa and printing surface information determined by the printing content determination device 100 as described above.

[0063] First, the print surface information acquisition unit 431 acquires the advertising image Pa and print surface information determined by the print content determination device 100, that is, the advertising image Pa to be printed on the packaging material P and the print surface information of this advertising image Pa (step S21).

[0064] Next, the print control unit 432 and the transport control unit 433 start printing (transporting) the advertising image Pa onto the packaging material P based on the advertising image Pa acquired by the print surface information acquisition unit 431 (step S22).

[0065] Next, the transport control unit 433 determines whether there are multiple print surfaces based on the print surface information acquired by the print surface information acquisition unit 431 (step S23).

[0066] If there are not multiple printed surfaces (step S23: NO), that is, if there is a single printed surface, the transport control unit 433 transports the packaging material P only by the printing transport unit 421 out of the printing transport unit 421 and the circulating transport unit 422 (step S24). Then, after the advertising image Pa is printed, the packaging material P is transported downstream in the transport direction from the printing transport unit 421, thereby completing the process shown in Fig. 7. The packaging material P is then delivered to the recipient by a shipping company as described above.

[0067] On the other hand, if there are multiple printing surfaces (step S23: YES), the transport control unit 433 transports the packaging material P, one of whose printing surfaces has been printed by the printing unit 410, from the printing transport unit 421 to the circulating transport unit 422 (step S25).

[0068] Next, the conveyance control unit 433 determines whether the remaining print surface of the packaging material P is adjacent to the print surface most recently printed by the printing unit 410 (step S26).

[0069] If the remaining printed surface is an adjacent surface (step S26: YES), the conveyance control unit 433 causes the rotation unit 423 to rotate the packaging material P by 90 degrees (or 270 degrees) (step S27). Alternatively, if the remaining printed surface is an opposing surface rather than an adjacent surface (step S26: NO), the conveyance control unit 433 causes the rotation unit 423 to rotate the packaging material P by 180 degrees (step S28).

[0070] Then, after printing is performed on the remaining printing surfaces, the packaging material P is conveyed downstream in the conveying direction from the print conveying unit 421, thereby completing the process shown in Fig. 7. The packaging material P is then delivered to the recipient by the shipping company as described above.

[0071] 7, the packaging material P is transported to the circulating conveying section 422 only if it has multiple printed surfaces (step S23: YES), but even if the packaging material P has a single printed surface, if the surface of the packaging material P transported by the transport mechanism 420 that faces the printing section 410 is different from the printed surface, the packaging material P may be transported to the circulating conveying section 422. In this way, the packaging material P transported to the circulating conveying section 422 is not limited to packaging material P with multiple printed surfaces.

[0072] In the present embodiment described above, the printing device 400 includes a conveying mechanism 420 that conveys packaging material P that contains products, a printing unit 410 that prints on the packaging material P conveyed by the conveying mechanism 420, and a control unit 430 that controls the conveying mechanism 420 and the printing unit 410. The conveying mechanism 420 includes a printing conveying unit 421 that conveys the packaging material P in the printing unit 410, a circulating conveying unit 422 that branches off from the printing conveying unit 421 downstream of the printing unit 410 in the conveying direction and joins the printing conveying unit 421 upstream of the printing unit 410 in the conveying direction, and a rotation unit 423 that rotates the packaging material P in the circulating conveying unit 422. The control unit 430 includes a printing surface information acquisition unit 431 that acquires an advertising image Pa (an example of a printed image) to be printed on the packaging material P and printing surface information of this advertising image Pa, a printing control unit 432 that controls the printing unit 410 based on the advertising image Pa, and a conveying control unit 433 that controls the conveying mechanism 420 to convey the packaging material P to the circulating conveying unit 422 based on the printing surface information.

[0073] The printing method is a printing method performed by a computer (control unit 430) of a printing device 400 equipped with a conveying mechanism 420 having a printing conveying unit 421, a circulating conveying unit 422, and a rotating unit 423, and a printing unit 410, and includes acquiring an advertising image Pa (an example of a printed image) to be printed on packaging material P and printing surface information of this advertising image Pa (step S21, printing surface information acquisition unit 431), controlling the printing unit 410 based on the advertising image Pa (step S22, printing control unit 432), and controlling the conveying mechanism 420 to convey the packaging material P to the circulating conveying unit 422 based on the printing surface information (step S25, conveying control unit 433).

[0074] The program also causes the computer (control unit 430) of the printing device 400, which is equipped with a conveying mechanism 420 having a printing conveying unit 421, a circulating conveying unit 422, and a rotating unit 423, and a printing unit 410, to realize the following functions: acquiring an advertising image Pa (an example of a printed image) to be printed on the packaging material P and printing surface information of this advertising image Pa (step S21, printing surface information acquisition unit 431), controlling the printing unit 410 based on the advertising image Pa (step S22, printing control unit 432), and controlling the conveying mechanism 420 to convey the packaging material P to the circulating conveying unit 422 based on the printing surface information (step S25, conveying control unit 433).

[0075] As a result, when printing on multiple sides of assembled packaging material P, the packaging material P is circulated in the circulating conveying section 422 and the orientation of the packaging material P is changed by the rotating section 423, allowing printing to be performed by a single printing device 400 (printing section 410). This eliminates the need for multiple printing devices. Therefore, according to this embodiment, printing can be performed on multiple print sides of assembled packaging material P with a simple configuration. Furthermore, even when packaging material P (first packaging material P1) with a single print side and packaging material P (second packaging material P2) with multiple print sides are mixed in the conveying mechanism 420, the packaging material P can be conveyed to the circulating conveying section 422 based on the print side information. This avoids printing on the first packaging material P1 and the second packaging material P2 at different times or using different printing devices, allowing for simple printing.

[0076] The printing system according to this embodiment includes the above-described printing device 400 and the print content determination device 100. The print content determination device 100 includes a print surface information determination unit 113 that determines print surface information of the advertisement image Pa based on the advertisement image Pa (an example of a print image) and packaging information of the packaging material P.

[0077] This allows the printing surface information of the advertising image Pa to be automatically determined, and the conveyance control unit 433 of the printing device 400 can control the conveyance mechanism 420 to convey the packaging material P to the circulating conveyance unit 422 based on the determined printing surface information. Therefore, printing can be easily performed on multiple printing surfaces of the assembled packaging material P.

[0078] In the above description, the printing content determination device 100, the advertising agency terminal 200, and the EC server 300 are described as separate devices, but the advertising agency terminal 200 and the EC server 300 may function as the printing content determination device 100. In that case, the control units 210, 310 of the advertising agency terminal 200 and the EC server 300 may function as the sales information acquisition unit 111, the print image determination unit 112, and the print surface information determination unit 113 described above. Furthermore, the EC server 300 may also function as the advertising agency terminal 200. In this case, the EC server 300 acquires advertising images Pa and advertising request information from the advertising client.

[0079] In the above description, the printing content determination device 100 includes the sales information acquisition unit 111 and the printing image determination unit 112, but the determination of the advertising image Pa (print image) may be performed by a device other than the printing content determination device 100 that includes the printing surface information determination unit 113. Therefore, the printing content determination device 100 only needs to include the printing surface information determination unit 113.

[0080] <Modification> FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing device 400, a print content determination device 500, and the like in a modified example of the embodiment.

[0081] In this modified example, the print content determination device 500 is placed in the above-mentioned delivery center where packaging of products into packaging material P and printing of advertising images Pa on the packaging material P are performed. Other matters can be the same as those described above, so the following description will focus on the differences.

[0082] The print content determination device 500 shown in FIG. 8 includes a control unit 510, a storage unit 520, an input unit 530, a display unit 540, and an interface unit 550, similar to the print content determination device 100. The print content determination device 500 may also function as a delivery management device that manages product delivery (shipping, etc.). The print content determination device 500 may also be integrated with the printing device 400, for example, so that the control unit 430 of the printing device 400 functions as the control unit 510 of the print content determination device 500. In this case, the printing device 400 can be said to function as a printing system including the printing device 400 and the print content determination device. The print content determination device 500 can also be called a print control device that controls the printing device 400.

[0083] The processor of control unit 510 functions as sales information acquisition unit 511, print image determination unit 512, and print surface information determination unit 513 by reading and executing a predetermined program, for example, from storage unit 520 or from a storage medium (non-transitory computer-readable recording medium) that is detachable from print content determination device 500. In this way, control unit 510 (or print content determination device 500) functions as an example of a computer that executes a program.

[0084] The sales information acquisition unit 511, print image determination unit 512, and print surface information determination unit 513 may be similar to the sales information acquisition unit 111, print image determination unit 112, and print surface information determination unit 113 described above.

[0085] In this modified example, the printing content determination device 500 is located at a delivery center, which makes it easier for the printing surface information determination unit 513 to manage packaging information about the packaging material P (such as the size of the printing area, the size, shape, color, and material of the packaging material P), which is information used to determine the printing surface information of the advertising image Pa. Furthermore, when the printing content determination device 500 functions as a delivery management device or a print control device, it is possible to omit the need to newly install the printing content determination device 100 shown in FIG. 1 above, thereby simplifying the configuration of the printing system. Furthermore, when the printing content determination device 500 functions as a delivery management device, it can acquire sales information as delivery information, which can simplify the process by which the sales information acquisition unit 511 acquires sales information. This can also simplify the process by which the printing image determination unit 512 determines the advertising image Pa based on sales information and advertising request information.

[0086] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the components can be modified and embodied in practice without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, all components shown in the embodiments may be appropriately combined. Naturally, various modifications and applications are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. Below, a portion of the invention described in the specification and drawings of this application is additionally noted.

[0087] [Appendix 1] a conveying mechanism for conveying packaging materials containing products; a printing unit that prints on the packaging material transported by the transport mechanism; a control unit that controls the transport mechanism and the printing unit, the conveying mechanism includes a printing conveying section that conveys the packaging material in the printing section, a circulating conveying section that branches off from the printing conveying section downstream of the printing section in the conveying direction and joins the printing conveying section upstream of the printing section in the conveying direction, and a rotating section that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying section, The control unit includes a print surface information acquisition unit that acquires a print image to be printed on the packaging material and print surface information of the print image, a print control unit that controls the printing unit based on the print image, and a transport control unit that controls the transport mechanism to transport the packaging material to the circulating transport unit based on the print surface information. A printing device characterized by:

[0088] [Appendix 2] A printing system including a printing device and a print content determination device, The printing device a conveying mechanism for conveying packaging materials containing products; a printing unit that prints on the packaging material transported by the transport mechanism; a control unit that controls the transport mechanism and the printing unit, the conveying mechanism includes a printing conveying section that conveys the packaging material in the printing section, a circulating conveying section that branches off from the printing conveying section downstream of the printing section in the conveying direction and joins the printing conveying section upstream of the printing section in the conveying direction, and a rotating section that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying section, the control unit includes a print surface information acquisition unit that acquires a print image to be printed on the packaging material and print surface information of the print image, a print control unit that controls the printing unit based on the print image, and a transport control unit that controls the transport mechanism to transport the packaging material to the circulating transport unit based on the print surface information, The printing content determination device a print surface information determination unit that determines the print surface information of the print image based on the print image and packaging information of the packaging material; A printing system characterized by:

[0089] [Appendix 3] A printing method performed by a computer of a printing device including a conveying mechanism that conveys packaging material containing products and a printing unit that prints on the packaging material conveyed by the conveying mechanism, wherein the conveying mechanism has a printing conveying unit that conveys the packaging material in the printing unit, a circulating conveying unit that branches off from the printing conveying unit downstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit and joins the printing conveying unit upstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit, and a rotating unit that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying unit, acquiring a print image to be printed on the packaging material and print surface information of the print image; controlling the printing unit based on the print image; controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the packaging material to the circulating conveying section based on the printed surface information; A printing method comprising:

[0090] [Appendix 4] a computer of a printing device including a conveying mechanism that conveys packaging material containing products and a printing unit that prints on the packaging material conveyed by the conveying mechanism, the conveying mechanism having a printing conveying unit that conveys the packaging material in the printing unit, a circulating conveying unit that branches off from the printing conveying unit downstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit and joins the printing conveying unit upstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit, and a rotating unit that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying unit; a function of acquiring a print image to be printed on the packaging material and information about the print surface of the print image; a function of controlling the printing unit based on the print image; a function of controlling the conveying mechanism so as to convey the packaging material to the circulating conveying section based on the printed surface information; A program to make this happen. [Explanation of symbols]

[0091] 100 Print content determining device 110 control section 111 Sales Information Acquisition Department 112 Print image determination unit 113 Printing surface information determination unit 200 advertising agency terminals 300 EC Server 400 Printing equipment 410 Printing Department 420 Conveyor mechanism 421 Printing transport unit 422 Circulation conveying section 422a First conveying section 422b Second conveying section 422c Third conveying section 423 Rotating part 430 Control Unit 431 Print surface information acquisition unit 432 Printing control unit 433 Transport control unit 500 Print content determining device 510 control section 511 Sales Information Acquisition Department 512 Print image determination unit 513 Printing surface information determination unit P packaging material P1 1st packaging material P2 2nd packaging material Pa advertising image Pa1 1st advertising image Pa2 2nd advertising image

Claims

1. a conveying mechanism for conveying packaging materials containing products; a printing unit that prints on the packaging material transported by the transport mechanism; a control unit that controls the transport mechanism and the printing unit, the conveying mechanism includes a printing conveying section that conveys the packaging material in the printing section, a circulating conveying section that branches off from the printing conveying section downstream of the printing section in the conveying direction and joins the printing conveying section upstream of the printing section in the conveying direction, and a rotating section that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying section, The control unit includes a print surface information acquisition unit that acquires a print image to be printed on the packaging material and print surface information of the print image, a print control unit that controls the printing unit based on the print image, and a transport control unit that controls the transport mechanism to transport the packaging material to the circulating transport unit based on the print surface information. A printing device characterized by:

2. A printing system including a printing device and a print content determination device, The printing device a conveying mechanism for conveying packaging materials containing products; a printing unit that prints on the packaging material transported by the transport mechanism; a control unit that controls the transport mechanism and the printing unit, the conveying mechanism includes a printing conveying section that conveys the packaging material in the printing section, a circulating conveying section that branches off from the printing conveying section downstream of the printing section in the conveying direction and joins the printing conveying section upstream of the printing section in the conveying direction, and a rotating section that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying section, the control unit includes a print surface information acquisition unit that acquires a print image to be printed on the packaging material and print surface information of the print image, a print control unit that controls the printing unit based on the print image, and a transport control unit that controls the transport mechanism to transport the packaging material to the circulating transport unit based on the print surface information, The printing content determination device a print surface information determination unit that determines the print surface information of the print image based on the print image and packaging information of the packaging material; A printing system characterized by:

3. A printing method performed by a computer of a printing device including a conveying mechanism that conveys packaging material containing products and a printing unit that prints on the packaging material conveyed by the conveying mechanism, wherein the conveying mechanism has a printing conveying unit that conveys the packaging material in the printing unit, a circulating conveying unit that branches off from the printing conveying unit downstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit and joins the printing conveying unit upstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit, and a rotating unit that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying unit, acquiring a print image to be printed on the packaging material and print surface information of the print image; controlling the printing unit based on the print image; controlling the conveying mechanism to convey the packaging material to the circulating conveying section based on the printed surface information; A printing method comprising:

4. a computer of a printing device including a conveying mechanism that conveys packaging material containing products and a printing unit that prints on the packaging material conveyed by the conveying mechanism, the conveying mechanism having a printing conveying unit that conveys the packaging material in the printing unit, a circulating conveying unit that branches off from the printing conveying unit downstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit and joins the printing conveying unit upstream in the conveying direction from the printing unit, and a rotating unit that rotates the packaging material in the circulating conveying unit; a function of acquiring a print image to be printed on the packaging material and information about the print surface of the print image; a function of controlling the printing unit based on the print image; a function of controlling the conveying mechanism so as to convey the packaging material to the circulating conveying section based on the printed surface information; A program to make this happen.

Images