Nail print device and control method

Abstract

To provide a nail print device which can reduce the occurrence of a malfunction in printing.SOLUTION: A nail print device comprises: a print head which performs a printing operation of printing an image on nails of a printing object person by moving in the scanning direction and discharging ink from a nozzle; and control means which controls the movement of the print head. When the movement of the print head stops regardless of the control of the movement of the print head following the printing operation, the control means switches the control of the movement of the print head after the stop on the basis of the stop position of the print head.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a nail printing device and a control method. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a method for printing nail art on the nails of a recipient using a printer. Hereinafter, a printer that prints nail art on the nails will be referred to as a nail printing device.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a method for stopping the drive of a print head when a change in the position of a detection body supported by the print head is detected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-23202 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When the method of Patent Document 1 is used to stop the print head during a printing operation, ink is no longer ejected from the print head nozzles, which can cause the ink adhering to the nozzles to dry out, which can lead to problems when the printing operation is restarted. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The nail printing device disclosed herein has a print head that moves in a scanning direction and ejects ink from nozzles to print an image on the nail of a person to be printed, and a control means for controlling the movement of the print head. The control means is configured to stop the movement of the print head when the movement of the print head is stopped, regardless of the control of the movement of the print head associated with the printing operation. When Stop position of the print head If the position is other than the predetermined position, the print head is moved to a predetermined position for suppressing drying of the nozzle, and the predetermined position is a position within an area of ​​the nail print device that includes the finger of the person to be printed.It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the technique disclosed herein, even if the drive of the print head stops during a printing operation, the occurrence of problems during printing can be reduced. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a top view showing the configuration of the nail printing apparatus. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration of a nail printing device. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the nail printing device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a processing flow performed in the printing system. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a design selection screen displayed on a display. [Figure 7] 6 is a flowchart for explaining a process of adjusting the height of the finger placement rest and printing a nail image. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a nail region. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a nail region. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The embodiments of the technology of the present disclosure will be described in detail below. Note that the following embodiments are examples for explaining the technology of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the technology of the present disclosure to only the embodiments. Furthermore, the technology of the present disclosure can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the technology. Note that the same configurations are described with the same reference numerals. Furthermore, the relative arrangement and shapes of the components described in the following embodiments are merely examples.

[0010] <First embodiment> In this embodiment, a nail printing device that prints a nail design on the nails of a person to be printed on will be described. In the nail printing device, an emergency stop may be performed to stop the drive of the print head while an operation for printing the nail design is in progress. In this embodiment, a method for controlling the movement of the print head after the print head is brought to an emergency stop will be described.

[0011] [System Configuration] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment. The printing system includes a host 100 and a nail print device 110. The nail print device 110 is a device that has a function of drawing an image directly on the fingernails of a person to be printed on. Note that, although this embodiment shows an example in which fingernails are the printing target, the printing target is not limited to fingernails, and toenails may also be used.

[0012] The host 100 is, for example, an information processing device such as a personal computer (PC). The host 100 may also be a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. The host 100 is configured to be able to communicate with the nail print device 110. The host 100 and the nail print device 110 are connected via a predetermined network, or directly connected without a network, and are capable of exchanging information with each other. Note that, although the host 100 and the nail print device 110 are described as separate devices in this embodiment, a device that includes the functions of both devices may also be used.

[0013] The host 100 includes a CPU 101 , a RAM 102 , a HDD 103 , a data transfer I / F 104 , a keyboard and mouse I / F 105 , a display I / F 106 , and a camera I / F 108 .

[0014] The CPU 101 executes the process described below according to the program stored in the HDD 103 or the RAM 102. The program includes an application program for printing a design image such as nail art on a nail by the nail print device 110. For example, the program includes an application program for transmitting a print job for printing a print image to the nail print device 110 in response to an operation from a user. An application having such a function is hereinafter referred to as a nail app or simply an app. Note that the app may have other functions in addition to the print function. For example, the app in this embodiment may have a function for starting the camera 240. That is, the app may have a function for sending a camera start job in addition to the print job. In addition, the application stored in the HDD 103 or the RAM 102 is not limited to a nail app, and may be an application program having a function other than printing. Hereinafter, a design image such as nail art is also referred to as a nail image.

[0015] The RAM 102 is a volatile storage device that temporarily stores programs and data, and the HDD 103 is a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data.

[0016] The data transfer I / F (interface) 104 controls the transmission and reception of data with the nail printing device 110. As a connection method for this data transmission and reception, wired connections such as USB, IEEE1394, and LAN, and wireless connections such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and WiFi (registered trademark) can be used. The data transmitted and received with the nail printing device 110 includes various control data. The data transmitted and received with the nail printing device 110 also includes image data of a print image output from the host 100 to the nail printing device 110.

[0017] The keyboard / mouse I / F (interface) 105 is an I / F that controls HIDs (Human Interface Devices) such as a keyboard and a mouse (not shown). A user can input various information via this I / F. The CPU 101 is configured to be able to receive instructions from the user via the keyboard / mouse I / F 105.

[0018] The display I / F (display interface) 106 controls the display on the display 107. The display 107 is, for example, a liquid crystal or organic EL display. The display 107 may be included in the configuration of the host 100. The CPU 101 can control the display of the display 107 via the display I / F 106. The display 107 may also serve as an input unit as a touch panel display. The camera I / F 106 is an I / F for connecting to the camera 240.

[0019] The nail printing apparatus 110 has a CPU 111 , a RAM 112 , a ROM 113 , a data transfer I / F 114 , a head controller 115 , a laser controller 116 , an image processing accelerator 117 , a motor controller 118 , and a camera I / F 119 .

[0020] The CPU 111 executes processes described below according to programs stored in the ROM 113 or the RAM 112. The RAM 112 is a volatile storage and temporarily stores programs and data. The ROM 113 is a non-volatile storage and can store various table data and programs.

[0021] A data transfer I / F (interface) 114 controls the transmission and reception of data to and from the host 100 .

[0022] The head controller 115 controls the heating operation of a heater board 231 (see FIG. 2) mounted on a print head 230 (see FIG. 2) based on the recording data, thereby causing ink to be ejected from the nozzles of the print head 230. Specifically, the head controller 115 can be configured to read control parameters and recording data from a predetermined address in the RAM 102. Then, when the CPU 111 writes the control parameters and recording data to the above-mentioned predetermined address in the RAM 112, processing is started by the head controller 115, and the heating operation of the heater board 231 mounted on the print head 230 is performed.

[0023] The laser controller 116 controls the laser sensor emitter 221 (see FIG. 2) to emit a laser. The laser sensor emitter 221 is a sensor used to adjust the height of finger placement tables 251-254 (see FIG. 2) on which the fingers of the person to be printed are placed. Details will be described later.

[0024] The image processing accelerator 117 is configured by hardware and executes image processing faster than the CPU 111. Specifically, the image processing accelerator 117 can be configured to read parameters and data required for image processing from a predetermined address in the RAM 112. When the CPU 111 writes the parameters and data to the predetermined address in the RAM 112, the image processing accelerator 117 is started and the predetermined image processing is performed. The image processing accelerator 117 can be configured in any manner. Depending on the specifications of the nail printing device 110, the above table parameter creation process and image processing may be executed only by the processing of the CPU 111.

[0025] The motor controller 118 is a control unit that controls the motor operation of a plurality of motor units (not shown). In this embodiment, the motor unit is used to move the print head 230 two-dimensionally relative to the nail to be printed. The finger rests 251-254 are configured to be movable in the upward and downward directions, and the motor unit is also used as a mechanism for raising or lowering the finger rests 251-254. That is, the motor controller 118 can control the height of the finger rests 251-254 by controlling the motor unit. The finger rests may be raised or lowered by a method other than the method using the motor unit. Depending on the type of printer, a motor for maintenance of the print head may be provided.

[0026] The camera I / F 119 is an I / F that is connected to the camera 240 and is used to acquire image data captured by the camera 240. The camera 240 may be connected to the host 100 via the camera I / F 108. In this case, image data of an image captured by the camera 240 may be received from the host 100 via, for example, the data transfer I / F 114. The camera 240 may be included in the configuration of the nail print device 110.

[0027] For example, an inkjet printer using an inkjet head that ejects ink droplets to record an image as a print head can be applied to the nail print device 110. The nail print device of this embodiment may also be a multifunction machine equipped with multiple functions such as a copy function, a FAX function, and a print function.

[0028] [Configuration of nail print device] Fig. 2 is a top view showing the configuration of the nail printing device 110 in this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic top view inside the housing of the nail printing device 110. In this specification, the direction along the X axis is the left-right direction, the direction along the Y axis is the front-rear direction, and the direction along the Z axis perpendicular to the X and Y axes is the up-down direction. In addition, the positive Y direction is the front side, the negative Y direction is the back side, the positive Z direction is the downward direction, and the negative Z direction is the upward direction.

[0029] The nail printing device 110 has Y-direction rail guides 211, 212 for moving the print head 230 in the front-rear direction, and an X-direction rail guide 220 for moving the print head 230 in the left-right direction that intersects with the front-rear direction.

[0030] A heater board 231 is attached below the print head 230. The following ink ejection nozzles are arranged on the heater board 231. Cyan ink nozzle 232 Magenta ink nozzle 233 Yellow ink nozzle 234

[0031] The directions in which the print head 230 of this embodiment can move include not only the left-right direction but also the front-back direction. For example, if the scanning direction is the left-right direction, the print head 230 performs one recording scan by ejecting ink from the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 of each color while moving left-right. Next, the print head 230 moves forward and backward and then performs the next recording scan, thereby printing an image on the nail. Therefore, the nail printing device 110 of this embodiment can print an image on the nail to be printed while the position of the nail to be printed is fixed.

[0032] A laser sensor emitter 221 is provided at one end of the X-direction rail guide 220, and a laser sensor receiver 222 is provided at the other end of the X-direction rail guide 220. Therefore, the laser sensor emitter 221 and the laser sensor receiver 222 are configured to move in the front-rear direction in synchronization with the front-rear movement of the print head 230. The laser sensor emitter 221 and the laser sensor receiver 222 are provided at a position spaced downward from the ink ejection nozzles 232 to 234. The laser sensor emitter 221 emits a laser toward the laser sensor receiver 222 in the X-direction. The laser sensor emitter 221 and the laser sensor receiver 222 may be collectively referred to as a laser sensor 206.

[0033] A camera 240 for photographing fingers is installed inside the ceiling of the nail print device 110. A lens 241 is disposed on the lower side of the camera 240.

[0034] On the floor side of the nail printing device 110, there are arranged a hand rest 250 for placing the palm of the hand, and finger rests 251-254 for fixing the finger positions. The nail printing device 110 is capable of controlling the adjustment of the Z-axis direction positions (heights) of the finger rests 251-254 independently. In other words, the finger rests 251-254 are configured to be independently movable in the direction facing the print head 230 that is printing on the nails.

[0035] 2, the back 260 of the hand of the person to be printed on and fingers 261-264 are shown in schematic form. The fingers of the person to be printed on are placed on finger rests 251-254 so that they extend in the front-to-back direction. In the example of FIG. 2, the hand of the person to be printed on is a right hand. The back 260 of the right hand is placed on hand rest 250. It is assumed that the index finger 261 of the right hand is placed on finger rest 251, the middle finger 262 on finger rest 252, the ring finger 263 on finger rest 253, and the little finger 264 on finger rest 254.

[0036] Within the region in which the print head 230 can move, a spare outlet 271 is disposed on one side (left side) in the X direction, and a spare outlet 272 is disposed on the other side (right side). The spare outlets 271, 272 disposed at both ends in the X direction are receptacles that receive ink discharged from the ink discharge nozzles 232-234. The print head 230 can move to the locations where the spare outlets 271, 272 are disposed and discharge ink from the ink discharge nozzles 232-234. By performing a spare outlet in which a small amount of ink is discharged from the ink discharge nozzles 232-234 to the spare outlets 271, 272, it is possible to prevent the ink from the ink discharge nozzles 232-234 from solidifying.

[0037] The cap 290 is disposed in a standby position where the print head 230 is on standby when not performing a printing operation. The cap 290 can be attached to the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 of the print head 230 in the standby position. By capping the ink ejection nozzles 232-234, the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 can be protected during standby and ink adhesion to the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 can be suppressed. In addition, a blade 280, which is a wiper member that wipes off ink adhering to the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 before the print head 230 moves to the standby position where the cap 290 is located, is disposed.

[0038] Fig. 3 is a front view showing the configuration of the nail printing device 110 of this embodiment. Fig. 4 is a side view showing the configuration of the nail printing device 110 of this embodiment. Like Fig. 2, Figs. 3 and 4 are also diagrams showing the inside of the housing of the nail printing device 110. The reference symbols in Figs. 3 and 4 indicate the same configuration as in Fig. 2.

[0039] [Adjusting the height of the finger rest] 2 to 4, a description will now be given of adjusting the height of the finger rests 251 to 254. By adjusting the height of the finger rests 251 to 254, the position of the nail in the Z direction relative to each of the ink ejection nozzles 232 to 234 of the print head 230 during printing can be adjusted.

[0040] To print a higher quality image on the nail, it is desirable that the nail, which is the printing target, is positioned at a position where the ink ejected from each of the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 can land appropriately. For this reason, the relative distance in the Z direction between the nail and the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 is adjusted by adjusting the height of the finger placement tables 251-254.

[0041] Each of the finger rests 251 to 254 is configured to be independently movable up or down, and the motor controller 118 can control the adjustment of the height (position in the Z-axis direction) of each of the finger rests 251 to 254 independently. In this embodiment, one of the finger rests 251 to 254 is selected, and the height adjustment is performed for each selected finger rest. For example, when the index finger 261, the middle finger 262, the ring finger 263, and the little finger 264 of the right hand are placed on the finger rests 251 to 254, respectively, the height adjustment is performed in order starting from the finger rest 251 on which the index finger 261 is placed. When the height adjustment of the finger rest 251 on which the index finger 261 is placed is completed, the finger rest 252 is selected next, and the same height adjustment is performed. This order is an example of the order of the finger rests to be adjusted in height, and the height adjustment may be performed starting from any finger rest.

[0042] A movable laser sensor 206 (laser sensor emitter 221 and laser sensor receiver 222) mounted on the nail print device 110 is used to adjust the height of each of the finger placement platforms 251-254. When the person to be printed places his / her finger on the finger placement platforms 251-254, the finger placement platforms 251-254 are in a position after being lowered to the initial position. In this case, when a laser is emitted from the laser sensor emitter 221, the emitted laser is not blocked and is received by the laser sensor receiver 222. Therefore, at the start of height adjustment, the laser emitted from the laser sensor emitter 221 is not blocked and is received by the laser sensor receiver 222.

[0043] As the finger rests 251-254 continue to rise, the laser emitted from the laser sensor emitter 221 is blocked by parts of the fingers of the person to be printed placed on the finger rests 251-254. When the laser is blocked and it is determined that the laser sensor receiver 222 is not receiving the laser, the motor controller 118 performs control to stop the lifting of the finger rests. In this way, the position detected by the laser sensor 206 is set as the rest position for the lifting of the finger rests, so that the height of the finger rests 251-254 can be adjusted.

[0044] The laser sensor emitter 221 and the laser sensor receiver 222 are located below the nozzles of the print head 230, and the position in the Z direction of the laser emitted from the laser sensor emitter 221 is a position where ink can be appropriately landed by the print head 230. Therefore, if the rise of the finger rests 251-254 can be stopped in response to the nail of a finger placed on the finger rests 251-254 blocking the laser, the height of the finger rests 251-254 can be adjusted so that the nail is appropriately positioned at the ink landing position. Therefore, the positions in the Y direction of the laser sensor emitter 221 and the laser sensor receiver 222 when adjusting the height are preferably positions where the nail area of ​​the finger placed on the finger rest to be adjusted is located.

[0045] Therefore, before adjusting the height of the finger rests 251-254, the nail area is detected from the captured image of the finger placed on the finger rests 251-254. By appropriately converting the coordinates (X coordinate, Y coordinate) of the nail area in the captured image into a coordinate position in the Y direction in the nail print device 110, the laser sensor 206 can be moved to a position in the Y direction corresponding to the nail area. For example, if the finger rest to be adjusted in height is the finger rest 251, the laser sensor emitter 221 and the laser sensor receiver 222 can be moved in the Y direction to a position where the nail of the finger placed on the finger rest 251 is located before the finger rest 251 is raised. After that, when the finger rest 251 is raised, the laser is blocked by the nail of the finger placed on the finger rest 251. By raising the finger rest 251 until the laser is blocked, the height of the finger rest 251 can be adjusted so that the height of the nail of the finger placed on the finger rest 251 is at an appropriate position. The finger rests 252 to 254 that are not subject to height adjustment are controlled to be lowered to their initial positions so as not to block the laser.

[0046] [Processing flow] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a process flow for printing an image on the nails of fingers placed on the finger rests 251-254, which is performed in the printing system of this embodiment. The application 500 is a process executed by the host 100 in FIG. 1. That is, it is a process by a nail application started by the host 100. The camera 240 takes a picture of the finger and sends image data of the taken image to the application 500. The nail print device 110 obtains a print image used for printing on the nail from the application 500, and the print head 230 is controlled by the motor controller 118 and the head controller 115, etc., to print on the nail part on the actual finger of the print recipient. The motor controller 118 also controls the movement of the laser sensor 206 and controls the raising and lowering of the finger rests 251-254. Note that the user (print recipient) whose nails have an image printed by the nail print device 110 and the user who operates the application are described as being the same person, but they may be different users.

[0047] The processing of the application 500 in Fig. 5 is performed by the CPU 101 of the host 100 by loading the program code stored in the HDD 103 into the RAM 102 and executing it. Alternatively, some or all of the functions of the steps in Fig. 5 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit. Note that the symbol "S" in the explanation of each process indicates a step in a sequence diagram.

[0048] In S510, the application 500 starts processing. For example, the processing of S510 starts in response to a user of the application 500 starting a nail application. In addition, start processing of the camera 240, the head controller 115, and the motor controller 118 is also performed as necessary.

[0049] Next, finger placement processing is performed in S520 to S523. First, in S520, the application 500 displays on the display 107 a screen instructing the person to place their hands on the hand placement table 250 and the finger placement table 251. The person to be printed places their fingers on the finger placement tables 251 to 254 as described in FIG. 2. Next, the application 500 outputs a whole image capture message M520 to the camera 240. Note that, although an example in which four fingers are placed on the finger placement tables 251 to 254 is shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, at least one finger from among the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger may be placed. Also, when printing on the nail of the thumb, only the thumb is placed.

[0050] In S521, camera 240 captures an image of the entire fingers placed on finger rests 251-254, and sends an entire image capturing information message M521 to application 500. The entire image capturing information message M521 includes image data of the entire image captured in this step. For example, when four fingers are placed on finger rests 251-254, camera 240 captures an image of the four fingers.

[0051] In S522, the application 500 acquires the entire image captured in S521, and displays the acquired entire image on the display 107. The application 500 also displays on the display 107 a "finger placement complete button" that the print recipient should press when the placement of the finger is completed.

[0052] In S523, the application 500 determines whether or not the "finger placement complete button" has been pressed. If the person to be printed checks the entire image and presses the "finger placement complete button," the process proceeds to S530. If the "finger placement complete button" has not been pressed, the process returns to S520, and the finger placement process of S520 to S523 is executed again.

[0053] Next, the nail region detection process of S530 to S531 is performed. First, in S530, the application 500 analyzes the image data of the entire image of the finger acquired as a result of shooting in S521. Then, the number of nails included in the entire image, and information indicating the X position, Y position, X direction width, Y direction width, and shape of each nail region are detected. The position and shape information obtained here is the position and shape of the nail region in the entire image (i.e., a two-dimensional plane). The X direction is the direction along the longitudinal direction of the X-direction rail guide 220 in FIG. 2, and the Y direction is the direction along the longitudinal direction of the Y-direction rail guides 211 and 212 in FIG. 2.

[0054] The position and shape of the actual nail area of ​​the printing recipient are determined from the captured image because the position and shape of the nails of the printing recipient vary from person to person, and the image is printed according to the actual position and shape of the nails.

[0055] One method of detecting the nail region is to detect the white color of the base coat applied to the nail by image processing. Specifically, pixels exceeding a predetermined threshold (for example, R>200, G>200, B>200) are detected from the RGB values ​​of the captured image, and the detected region is determined as the nail region. When detecting the nail, it is preferable to make the finger rests 251-254 black or other colors other than white so that the finger rests 251-254 under the fingers are not erroneously detected as nails. It is also preferable to configure the finger rests 251-254 with a material that diffuses light so that the whitened parts of the captured image due to the reflection of light are not erroneously detected. Alternatively, edge detection processing may be performed on the captured image, and the nail region may be detected using the information obtained as a result. Alternatively, since detection by image processing is difficult when the base coat is translucent, machine learning may be used as another detection method. By using nail images with a white or translucent base coat applied as images to be learned by machine learning, it becomes possible to detect the nail region not only when the base coat is white but also when it is translucent. In machine learning, a learning model is constructed by having the system learn where the nails are in prepared learning images. The constructed learning model is incorporated into the app 500, processed by the CPU 101, and used to detect the nail area from the captured image. Since skin color and nail shape vary from person to person, it is advisable to prepare many hand patterns in the learning images and have the system learn them. There are many frameworks for machine learning, and machine learning can be realized by utilizing existing frameworks.

[0056] In S531, the application 500 determines whether or not the nail region has been correctly detected. If it is determined that the nail region has been correctly detected, the process proceeds to S540, and if it is determined that the nail region has not been correctly detected, the process returns to S520 and the finger placement process and the nail region detection process are repeated.

[0057] The method of determining whether the nail region has been detected correctly is, for example, when the following conditions are satisfied, it is determined that the detection has been performed correctly. If the number of detected nail regions is four, they are approximately evenly spaced in the X coordinate, and the position of the middle finger nail is on the back side in the Y direction and the position of the little finger nail is on the front side in the Y direction, it is determined that the detection of the position and shape of the nail region has been performed correctly. Conversely, if the number of acquired nail regions is zero or five or more, or if multiple nails are detected in approximately the same X position, it is determined that the detection of the nail region has not been performed correctly. In other cases, for example, if the number of acquired nail regions is one to three, the nails of undetected fingers may be excluded from printing, or the position and shape of a standard nail region may be registered as the nail of an undetected finger, and the process may proceed to S540.

[0058] Next, the application 500 performs a nail image setting process in S540 to S541. First, in S540, the application 500 displays on the display 107 a message to the person to whom printing is to be performed that the nail image setting process will be performed. The application 500 also displays a "nail image setting completion button" to be pressed when the nail image setting is completed.

[0059] As a result of S540, the person to be printed selects at least the “image design to be printed on the nails.” In other words, the person to be printed selects the design to be printed on the nails through the display I / F 106.

[0060] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a design selection screen 601 displayed on the display 107. Fig. 6(a) is an example of the screen when no design has been set, and Fig. 6(b) is an example of the screen when a design has been set. A finger model 602 and a nail model 603 are displayed on the selection screen 601 in Fig. 6(a). On the selection screen 601, the person to be printed selects which design to select for which finger nail. Note that, in this embodiment, an example will be described in which the person who selects the design is the same as the person to be printed, but the two may be different when used in, for example, a nail salon.

[0061] The person to be printed selects a design to be used for printing on the nail from a design list 604 displayed on the selection screen 601. The design list 604 includes individual design images 605. Each design image 605 included in the design list 604 may be stored in advance in the HDD 103 in the host 100, or may be acquired from a network using the data transfer I / F 104. When the person to be printed selects a design, first, he or she presses any one of the nail models 603. The pressed nail model 603 is placed in a selected state, and a frame 607 indicating that it is selected is displayed, as shown in FIG. 6(b). In this state, by pressing an individual design image 605 included in the design list 604, the pressed design image 605 is set to the selected nail model 603.

[0062] The nail image setting completion button 606 is a button for moving to the next step. After selecting a design, pressing the nail image setting completion button 606 proceeds to the next step. Note that if no design image is selected, the nail image setting completion button 606 is grayed out and disabled as shown in FIG. 6(a). The nail image setting completion button 606 does not become enabled as shown in FIG. 6(b) until at least one design image is set.

[0063] In S541, the application 500 determines whether the person to be printed has pressed the nail image setting completion button 606. If the determination result is No, the application 500 returns to S540 to continue the nail image setting process, and if the determination result is Yes, the application 500 proceeds to S550. By repeating the series of processing flows from S540 to S541 in real time, the person to be printed can easily set the image in the nail area.

[0064] S550 to S552 are processes for selecting one finger rest and adjusting its height. The height adjustment process of S550 to S552 is performed for each finger rest to be adjusted selected from finger rests 251 to 254, and the processes of S550 to S552 are repeated the number of times corresponding to the number of finger rests on which fingers are placed. In the following explanation, it is assumed that the finger rest to be adjusted is finger rest 251.

[0065] In S550, the application 500 determines a "first adjustment position" of the finger rest 251 to be adjusted from the position and shape of the nail area detected based on the entire image captured in S521. Then, a first height adjustment message M550 including position information of the determined first adjustment position is output to the nail print device 110. The "first adjustment position" will be described as, for example, the position of the tip of the back side (fingertip side) in the Y direction of the nail area of ​​the finger placed on the finger rest 251 to be adjusted, but the first adjustment position is not limited to the tip of the nail area. Also, multiple positions of the nail area may be specified as the first adjustment position.

[0066] In S551, first, the motor controller 118 moves the laser sensor emitter 221 so that the position of the laser sensor emitter 221 in the Y direction becomes the position of the first adjustment position received. Then, the motor controller 118 adjusts the height of the finger rest 251 to be adjusted. The height adjustment in this step is called the first height adjustment. The motor controller 118 raises the finger rest 251 to be adjusted, and stops raising the finger rest 251 to be adjusted when it is determined that the laser sensor light receiving unit 222 has changed from a state in which it receives laser light to a state in which it does not receive laser light. When the height adjustment is completed, the nail print device 110 outputs a first height adjustment completion message M551 to the application 500. The finger rests 252 to 254 that are not to be adjusted are kept in a lowered state because there is a risk that the laser will be blocked by the fingers placed on the finger rests 252 to 254.

[0067] When the application 500 receives the first height adjustment completion message M551, it outputs a finger image capturing message M552 to the camera 240 to instruct the camera 240 to capture an image of the nail of the finger placed on the finger rest 251 after the first height adjustment.

[0068] In S552, camera 240 captures an image of the nail of the finger placed on finger rest 251 to be adjusted, which is at the position where the first height adjustment has been performed, and after the image capture is completed, outputs finger image capture information message M553 including the captured image data to application 500.

[0069] Next, in S560 to S566, image printing processing is performed on the nails. The image printing processing is performed for each of the nails placed on the finger rests 251 to 254, and the image printing processing is repeated the number of times corresponding to the number of nails on which the nail images are to be printed. In this embodiment, the finger rest to be adjusted selected for the processing of S550 to S552 is selected as the printing target in S560 to S565. Alternatively, the processing of S550 to S552 may be performed for all finger rests 251 to 254 before proceeding to S560, and a new finger rest to be printed may be selected in S560. In the following description, a case where the finger rest 251 is selected as the finger rest to be printed is taken as an example.

[0070] In S560, first, the application 500 detects the nail area based on the captured image obtained as a result of capturing the image in S552. That is, in this step, the application 500 detects the nail area of ​​the finger to be printed from the image obtained by capturing an image of the finger placed on the finger placement table 251 in the position after the first height adjustment. The detection method is the same as in S530.

[0071] Next, the application 500 determines the "second adjustment position" of the finger to be printed based on the detected nail area. Then, a second height adjustment message M560 including position information of the determined second adjustment position is output to the nail print device 110. The method of determining the "second adjustment position" is the same as the method of determining the "first adjustment position". For example, it is set to the position of the tip of the detected nail area in the Y direction.

[0072] In S561, the motor controller 118 moves the laser sensor emitter 221 to the received second adjustment position. If the Y direction position of the second adjustment position notified in the second height adjustment message M560 is the same as the Y direction position of the first adjustment position notified in the first height adjustment message M550, it is not necessary to move the laser sensor emitter 221 in S561.

[0073] Next, the motor controller 118 adjusts the height of the finger rest 251 of the printing target. The height adjustment in this step is called the second height adjustment. The motor controller 118 raises the finger rest 251 of the printing target, and when it is determined that the laser sensor light receiving unit 222 has changed from a state in which it is receiving laser light to a state in which it is not receiving laser light, the motor controller 118 stops raising the finger rest 251 of the printing target.

[0074] The nail of the finger placed on finger rest 251 after the first height adjustment is placed closer to camera 240 than the position of the nail when photographed in S521. The accuracy of nail detection is higher when the nail is detected based on a photographed image obtained by photographing the nail in a position closer to camera 240. For this reason, the nail area detected in S560 is detected with higher accuracy than the nail area detected in S530. For this reason, it is possible to perform more accurate height adjustment of finger rest 251 before printing based on the second adjustment position determined based on the nail area with higher accuracy.

[0075] The finger rests 252-254 that are not the printing target are kept in the lowered state because there is a risk that the laser will be blocked by the fingers placed on the finger rests 252-254. When the second height adjustment is completed, a second height adjustment completion message M561 is output to the application 500.

[0076] In S562, the app 500 generates a print image for printing on the nail. In this embodiment, the app 500 determines an image area based on the nail area of ​​the captured image of the finger placed on the finger rest 251 after the first height adjustment. Then, the print image is generated by setting the nail image in the image area. The position of the nail of the finger placed on the finger rest 251 after the first height adjustment is close to the height after the second height adjustment, which is the height when printing is actually performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, the print image can be generated from the captured image obtained by capturing the nail placed at a position close to the height when printing is actually performed, so that the print image for performing printing with higher accuracy can be generated.

[0077] Then, the application 500 displays a message "printing will start" on the display 107, and outputs to the nail print apparatus 110 a print message M562 including the image data of the generated print image.

[0078] In S563, the print head 230 is controlled to print on the nail of the finger as the printing target using the received image data of the print image as recording data. When the printing is completed, the nail print device 110 sends a message including printing completion information to the application 500.

[0079] In this sequence diagram, the process when an error occurs in the printing operation of S563 will be described. Specifically, the error will be described as occurring due to the print head 230 coming into contact with an object such as the finger of the person to be printed. If the print head 230 comes into contact with an object such as the finger of the person to be printed during the printing operation, the object is detected as having come into contact with the print head 230 in S563. Then, the printing operation is stopped in an emergency and the print head 230 stops moving. Then, the nail printing device 110 sends an error message M563 to the application 500 indicating that the nail printing device 110 is not in a normal state because the print head 230 has come into contact with the object. Details of the process in the nail printing device 110 in S561 to S564 will be described later.

[0080] In S565, the application 500 performs a process to clear the error state. For example, the method of clearing the error is to notify the person to whom the error is to be printed of the method of clearing the error, and when it is confirmed that the error has been cleared in the nail print device 110, the error is cleared. Note that if no error occurs in the printing operation in S563, the processes in S564 and S565 are skipped.

[0081] In S566, the application 500 determines whether printing has been completed for the number of detected nails. If printing has been completed for all nails, the application 500 proceeds to S570. If printing has not been completed for all nails, the application 500 selects a finger rest to be adjusted, and repeats the processes of S550 to S565 until printing has been completed for all nails.

[0082] In S570, the application 500 displays a message to the effect that "printing is completed" on the display 107. Finally, in S580, the application 500 performs a termination process and ends the process. If necessary, the application 500 also performs termination processes for the camera 240, the head controller 115, and the motor controller 118. This concludes the description of the series of processes performed by the application 500 and the nail print device 110.

[0083] In the description of this sequence diagram, the height adjustment is performed twice, but the height adjustment may be performed only once. If the height adjustment is performed only once, S551, S552, and S560 are skipped, and the sending and receiving of messages M551 to M553 and M560 are also skipped. In this case, in S561, the height adjustment is performed based on the first adjustment position, and in S562, a print image is generated based on the entire image captured in S521.

[0084] [Height adjustment of nail print device and printing process] Fig. 7 is a flowchart for explaining details of the height adjustment process of the finger placement platforms 251-254 and the printing process executed in the nail print device 110. When the process of S561 in Fig. 5 is started, the process of the flowchart in Fig. 7 is started.

[0085] The series of processes shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 are performed by the CPU 111 of the nail print device 110 expanding the program code stored in the ROM 113 into the RAM 112 and executing it. Some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 7 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or an electronic circuit. As described above, the finger placement tables 251-254 are raised and lowered, and the laser sensor 206 is moved via the motor controller 118. The print head 230 is moved to perform a printing operation via the motor controller 118, and ink is ejected from the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 via the head controller 115. The symbol "S" in the explanation of each process indicates a step in the flowchart.

[0086] S701 to S709 are loop processes, and S701 to S709 are repeated for the number of nails to be printed. That is, a nail to be printed is selected from the unprinted nails, and the processes of S701 to S709 are performed on the selected nail. When the printing process of the nail on the printing target is completed, a nail to be printed is selected from the unprinted nails. When there are no more unprinted nails, the loop process ends.

[0087] When the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are placed on the finger rests 251 to 254, the processes of S701 to S709 are repeated until printing on the nails of the four fingers placed on the finger rests 251 to 254 is completed. When the thumb is placed on the finger rest 251 or finger rest 254 to print on the thumb nail, the processes of S701 to S709 are performed only on the thumb nail. The nail to be printed is determined by the application 500, and is notified to the nail print device 110 together with the adjustment position of the nail to be printed.

[0088] The following description of this flowchart will be given of a case where the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger are placed on finger rests 251 to 254, and the nail of the index finger placed on finger rest 251 is selected as the nail to be printed in S701.

[0089] In S702, the finger rest 251 starts to rise. At this time, a laser is emitted from the laser sensor emitter 221 after it has moved to the adjustment position. It is assumed that the laser sensor receiver 222 receives the laser emitted from the laser sensor emitter 221 when the finger rest 251 starts to rise.

[0090] In S703, the CPU 111 determines whether the laser sensor light receiving unit 222 has stopped receiving the laser. If the determination result is No, the process returns to S702 and continues the process of raising the finger rest 251. If the laser emitted from the laser sensor light emitting unit 221 to the laser sensor light receiving unit 222 is blocked by the nail of the index finger 261 placed on the raised finger rest 251, the laser sensor light receiving unit 222 stops receiving the laser. At this time, it is determined that the laser sensor light receiving unit 222 has stopped receiving the laser, and the determination is Yes. If the determination result is Yes, the process proceeds to S704.

[0091] In S704, the finger rest 251 stops rising. By stopping the rise of the finger rest 251 in response to the laser being blocked by the nail of the index finger 261 placed on the finger rest 251, the height of the finger rest 251 is adjusted so that the distance of the print head 230 to the nail of the index finger 261 to be printed is an appropriate distance.

[0092] In S705, a printing operation is performed, and the print head 230 performs an operation for printing a nail image on the nail of the finger placed on the finger rest 251 as a printing target.

[0093] In S706, the CPU 111 determines whether the print head 230 during the printing operation has come into contact with an object such as a finger of a person to be printed on. If it is not determined that the print head 230 has come into contact with an object (NO in S706), the process proceeds to S707.

[0094] In S707, the CPU 111 determines whether printing of the nail image on the nail to be printed has been completed. If the determination result is No, the process returns to S705 to continue the printing operation, and if the determination result is Yes, the process proceeds to S708. In S708, the finger placement platform 251 is lowered to the initial position.

[0095] In S709, the CPU 111 determines whether printing of images has been completed for the nails of all fingers placed on the finger rests 251-254. If there are any nails on which printing has not been completed, the process returns to S701, and the nail to be printed from among the unprinted nails is notified by the application 500, and S701-708 are repeated. When printing has been completed for all nails, this flowchart ends. Alternatively, if only the thumb is placed on the finger rests 251-254, this flowchart ends if printing on the thumb nail has been completed.

[0096] On the other hand, if it is determined in S706 that the print head 230 has come into contact with an object during the printing operation (YES in S706), the process leaves the loop processing of S701 to S709 and proceeds to S710. In principle, the print head 230 will not come into contact with an object such as the finger of the person being printed during the printing operation. However, for example, if the person being printed raises the finger on which the nail is being printed higher than the position where the finger rest 251 stopped in S704, the print head 230 may come into contact with the finger of the person being printed.

[0097] A method for determining whether the print head 230 has come into contact with an object such as a finger during a printing operation is, for example, to determine that the print head 230 has come into contact with an object when the print head 230 is no longer able to physically operate during the printing operation. For example, if the print head 230 stops at a position where it was not scheduled to stop during the printing operation, it is determined that the print head has come into contact with an object.

[0098] In S710, the CPU 111 performs control to make an emergency stop of the printing operation. When an emergency stop is performed, the movement of the print head 230 is stopped, and control is also performed to stop the ejection of ink from the ink ejection nozzles 232 to 234. Stopping the drive of the print head 230 while a printing operation is in progress in this way, regardless of the control of the print head associated with the printing operation, is called an emergency stop.

[0099] The above step S706 is a step for determining whether an error that requires an emergency stop has occurred. In the explanation of this flowchart, as explained in S706, the contact of an object with the print head 230 during a printing operation is an error that requires an emergency stop. In addition, for example, an error that requires an emergency stop may also be an error that requires an emergency stop if a cover (not shown) of the nail printing device 110 is opened while a printing operation is in progress.

[0100] In S711, the CPU 111 determines whether the current position of the print head 230 is within the finger area, or whether the current position of the print head 230 is a position where the finger area is in the scanning direction. The scanning direction is the direction in which the print head 230 was moving in the recording scan immediately before the emergency stop. The current position of the print head 230 during the processing of this step is the stop position of the print head 230 when its movement was stopped by the emergency stop.

[0101] FIG. 8 is a front view of the nail printing device 110 for explaining the finger area. FIG. 9 is a top view of the nail printing device 110 for explaining the finger area. The finger area 800 shown in the dashed line frame in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 is an area including at least an area where the print head 230 may actually be in contact with a part of the print head. If it is determined that the print head 230 is located in the finger area 800, the print head 230 is controlled not to move after an emergency stop in consideration of safety. The finger area may be an area determined in advance based on the positions of the finger placement tables 251-254 as shown in FIG. 8, or may be determined as an area corresponding to the print head of the print head based on the result of the finger area detection in S530 in FIG. 5.

[0102] For example, if the position of print head 230 shown in Fig. 9 is the stop position due to an emergency stop, the position of the stop position on the XY plane is included in the area on the XY plane of finger area 800. In this case, in S711 it is determined that print head 230 is located in finger area 800 (determined as YES in S711). Alternatively, if the position of print head 230 shown in Fig. 8 is the stop position due to an emergency stop, and the scanning direction of print head 230 in the printing operation immediately before the emergency stop was from left to right in Fig. 8, the finger area 800 is present in the scanning direction. For this reason, it is determined that the finger area is present in the scanning direction (determined as YES in S711).

[0103] If the determination in S711 is YES, for safety reasons, the print head 230 is controlled to be in a stopped state. For example, when notifying the printed person that an emergency stop has been performed, the print head 230 is notified that the emergency stop has been performed because the print head 230 has come into contact with an object, while the print head 230 remains in a stopped state.

[0104] Then, in S712, CPU 111 determines whether the finger of the person to be printed has been moved to a safe place. For example, in S712, CPU 111 determines whether all finger rests 251-254 have been lowered to their initial positions, which are in the opposite direction to the direction of print head 230. If the determination in S711 is YES, finger rests 251-254 begin to move down. Then, after finger rests 251-254 start to move down, the determination step in S712 is performed.

[0105] If the determination in S712 is YES, the process proceeds to S713. Also, in S711, if the stop position of the print head 230 during an emergency stop is a position other than within the finger area and is a position where the finger area is not present in the scanning direction (S711 is NO), the process proceeds to S713.

[0106] In S713, the print head 230 is controlled to move to a standby location where the spare nozzles 271, 272 or the cap 290 are arranged. At the spare nozzles 271, 272, the print head 230 can perform spare ejection from the ink ejection nozzles 232-234. At the standby location, the cap 290 is attached to the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 of the print head 230. Therefore, whether the print head 230 moves to the spare nozzles 271, 272 or the standby location, it is possible to prevent the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 from drying out or the ink adhering to the nozzles from solidifying.

[0107] 8, and the scanning direction immediately before the emergency stop of the print head 230 is from right to left, the print head 230 is outside the finger area, and there is no finger area in the scanning direction. Therefore, NO is determined in S711, and in S713 the print head 230 moves to a standby location where the spare discharge port 271 or the cap 290 is located.

[0108] Alternatively, if the stopping position of the print head 230 during an emergency stop is to the right of the finger area 800, and the scanning direction immediately before the emergency stop of the print head 230 is from left to right, then the print head 230 is outside the finger area, and there is no finger area in the scanning direction. For this reason, the determination in S711 is NO, and in S713 the print head 230 moves to a standby location where the spare discharge port 272 or the cap 290 is located.

[0109] After the emergency stop, when the print head 230 moves to the spare discharge ports 271, 272 or the cap 290, the processing of this flowchart ends. When the error release processing after the emergency stop is completed, the printing operation will be resumed, so in principle, in S713 the print head 230 is controlled to move to the spare discharge ports 271, 272. If the printing operation is not resumed, the print head 230 is controlled to move to a standby location where the cap 290 is located.

[0110] After that, the application 500 performs a process to clear the error in S565 of Fig. 5. For example, the application 500 notifies the person to be printed of a method for clearing the error associated with the emergency stop via the display 107. Then, when it is confirmed that the error has been cleared in the nail printing device 110, the nail printing device 110 outputs a message to that effect to the application 500. The application 500 receives the message and clears the error in S565.

[0111] As described above, in this embodiment, the movement of the print head after an emergency stop is controlled based on the stop position of the print head at the time of the emergency stop. Therefore, according to this embodiment, after an emergency stop, a process can be performed to reduce the drying of ink attached to the ink ejection nozzles 232-234 of the print head while taking into consideration the safety of the person to be printed. Therefore, even if the drive of the print head stops during the progress of a printing operation, the occurrence of printing defects caused by inappropriate ejection of ink due to drying can be reduced.

[0112] <Other embodiments> The present disclosure can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0113] 110 Nail print device 230 Print Head

Claims

1. a print head that moves in a scanning direction and ejects ink from a nozzle to perform a printing operation of printing an image on the nail of a person to be printed; A control means for controlling the movement of the print head, The control means if the stop position of the print head when the movement of the print head stops is a position other than a predetermined position, regardless of the control of the movement of the print head associated with the printing operation, the print head is moved to a predetermined position for preventing the nozzles from drying out; The predetermined position is a position within an area of ​​the nail print device that includes the finger of the person to be printed. A nail printing device characterized by the above.

2. A print head that moves in a scanning direction and ejects ink from a nozzle to perform a printing operation of printing an image on a nail of a person to be printed; A control means for controlling the movement of the print head, The control means if the stop position of the print head when the movement of the print head stops is a position other than a predetermined position, regardless of the control of the movement of the print head associated with the printing operation, the print head is moved to a predetermined position for preventing the nozzles from drying out; When the direction in which the print head was moving before the print head was stopped is a first direction from one end to the other end of the scanning direction, the predetermined position is a position in the nail print device where an area including the finger of the person to be printed is in the first direction. A nail printing device characterized by the above.

3. Further comprising a cap attached to the nozzle, The predetermined location is the location where the cap is disposed.

3. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail printing apparatus is a nail printing apparatus.

4. a receiving port for receiving ink preliminarily ejected from the nozzle; The predetermined location is the location where the socket is located.

4. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail printing apparatus is a nail printing apparatus having a printing function.

5. The receiving holes are disposed on both ends in the scanning direction.

5. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 4.

6. When printing on the nail, the print head is positioned above the finger of the person to be printed, The control means When the stop position is the predetermined position, after the stop, the print head is not moved from the stop position until the finger of the person to be printed is moved downward.

6. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail printing apparatus is a nail printing apparatus having a printing function.

7. The printing apparatus further includes a finger rest on which the finger of the person to be printed is placed, The print head prints an image on the nail of a finger placed on the finger rest.

7. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail printing apparatus is a nail printing apparatus having a printing function.

8. The area is an area where the finger rest is located.

8. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 7,

9. The finger placement device further includes an image capturing unit for capturing an image of a finger placed on the finger placement table. The area is determined based on the photographed image acquired by the photographing means.

8. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 7,

10. The finger rest, on which the finger to be printed by the print head is placed, moves to a rest position facing the print head when printing is performed on the nail, before the printing.

10. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the nail printing apparatus is a nail printing apparatus having a printing function.

11. The stationary position is detected by a sensor.

11. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 10.

12. The print head is an inkjet head.

12. The nail printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nail printing apparatus is a nail printing apparatus.

13. A method for controlling a nail printing device having a print head that performs a printing operation of printing an image on a nail of a print recipient by moving in a scanning direction and ejecting ink from a nozzle, comprising: a control step of moving the print head to a predetermined position for preventing the nozzles from drying out when the stop position of the print head when the movement of the print head stops is a position other than a predetermined position, regardless of the control of the movement of the print head associated with the printing operation; The predetermined position is a position within an area of ​​the nail print device that includes the finger of the person to be printed. A control method comprising:

14. A method for controlling a nail printing device having a print head that performs a printing operation of printing an image on a nail of a person to be printed by moving in a scanning direction and ejecting ink from a nozzle, comprising: a control step of moving the print head to a predetermined position for preventing the nozzles from drying out when the stop position of the print head when the movement of the print head stops is a position other than a predetermined position, regardless of the control of the movement of the print head associated with the printing operation; When the direction in which the print head was moving before the print head was stopped is a first direction from one end to the other end of the scanning direction, the predetermined position is a position in the nail print device where an area including the finger of the person to be printed is in the first direction. A control method comprising:

Images