Printing device, printing control method and program

Abstract

To provide a printer, a printing control method and a program which can realize the nail design that is rich in variation by setting a region where printing is not performed.SOLUTION: A printer comprises: a printing data generation unit 313 which generates printing data; a printing unit 40 which performs printing on a printing object surface (surface of a nail T) on the basis of the printing data generated by the printing data generation unit 313; and a control unit 30 which controls a printing operation of the printing unit 40. The printing data generation unit 313 sets background design data as the first data to the printing object surface, sets non-printing item data as the second data so as to be overlapped in a region set with the first data, and generates the printing data which makes the region set with the second data a non-printing region that is not printed in the region set with the first data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a print control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, printing devices (nail printing devices) that print nail designs on fingernails or the like are known. When printing on a nail, for example, the outline of the nail is detected, printing data is generated with the area within this nail outline as the printing area, and printing is performed according to the printing data.

[0003] There are some nail designs that can be expressed by printing with a printing device and some that cannot be expressed by printing with a printing device. For example, if you want to decorate part of a nail with gel nails that harden with light such as ultraviolet light, or with rhinestones, it is possible that the printed part and the decorated part created with these methods will be mixed on one nail.

[0004] In such cases, if gel nails or rhinestones are applied over the printed ink, they tend to peel off more easily than if they were applied directly to the nail, and it is difficult to make them adhere neatly. For this reason, there is a demand for preventing ink from adhering to areas that are decorated by methods other than printing.

[0005] In this regard, a technique is known in which, when applying nail polish to nails by hand, the nail area around the nail is masked to prevent the nail polish from spilling onto the finger and staining the finger (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Publication No. 3112229 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 is intended to prevent nail polish from adhering to areas other than the nail, such as the fingers, and does not provide a non-printing area inside the nail contour. If it is desired to create a non-printing area within the range recognized as the nail contour, it may be possible to consider, for example, applying masking tape or the like, but applying masking tape of the desired size and shape to part of the nail requires very delicate work, which is difficult for many users.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has the advantage of providing a printing device, a printing control method, and a program that make it possible to realize a wide variety of nail designs by setting areas where printing is not performed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problems, the printing device of the present invention comprises: a print data generating unit for generating print data; a printing unit that prints on a printing target surface based on the printing data generated by the print data generating unit; A control unit that controls a printing operation of the printing unit; Equipped with The print data generating unit sets first data on the printing surface, sets second data so as to overlap the first data in an area where the first data is set, and generates the print data in such a manner that the area where the second data is set within the area where the first data is set is a non-print area where no printing is performed. The printing unit prints a first layer and a second layer on the printing surface, and the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the printing data for the first layer is set is set to be larger than the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the printing data for the second layer is set. It is characterized by: Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, by setting areas where printing is not performed, it is possible to realize a wide variety of nail designs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a block diagram showing the control configuration of a printing device and a terminal device linked thereto in the present embodiment; FIG. [Diagram 3] 5 is a flowchart showing a printing process according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a nail image in the present embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a design editing screen of a display unit. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a background design. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a non-printing item. [Figure 8] 13 is a diagram showing an example of print data in which a background design and non-printing items are arranged around a nail outline on a design editing screen of a display unit. FIG. [Figure 9] 9 is a diagram showing an example of background data corresponding to the printing data shown in FIG. 8. FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a nail design in which a printed portion produced by a printing device and a decorative portion produced by a method other than printing are mixed on one nail. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] An embodiment of a printing apparatus, a printing control method, and a program according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, the embodiments described below are subject to various limitations that are technically preferable for implementing the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples. In addition, in the following embodiment, a nail printing device will be described as an example in which the printing device prints on the printing target of a fingernail, however, the printing target of the printing device in this invention is not limited to fingernails, and the printing target may be, for example, the nails of toes.

[0013] Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a printing device (nail print device) in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the printing device cooperates with a terminal device to print on nails. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the main control configuration of the printing device and the terminal device that cooperates with the printing device.

[0014] In this embodiment, the printing device 1 has a housing 11 formed in a substantially box shape, as shown in FIG. An operation unit 12 is provided on the top surface (top plate) of the housing 11. The operation unit 12 is an operation unit through which the user performs various inputs. The operation unit 12 is composed of operation buttons for performing various inputs, such as a power switch button for turning on the power of the printing device 1, a stop switch button for stopping operation, and a print start button for instructing the start of printing. When the operation unit 12 is operated, an operation signal corresponding to the operation is output to the control device 30, and the control device 30 performs control according to the operation signal, and causes each part of the printing device 1 to operate. Instead of the operation unit 12, each unit of the printing device 1 may be operated in accordance with an operation signal input from an operation unit 71 of a terminal device 7, which will be described later.

[0015] Furthermore, a display unit 13 is provided on the top surface (top plate) of the housing 11. The display unit 13 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic electroluminescence display (OLED), or another flat display. A touch panel for performing various inputs may be integrally configured on the surface of the display unit 13. In this case, the touch panel functions as the operation unit 12.

[0016] In this embodiment, the display unit 13 displays various images such as nail images photographed by the photographing unit. In this embodiment, as will be described later, a design editing screen 131 (see FIG. 5 and the like) for editing a nail design is displayed on the display unit 13. The display unit 13 may also appropriately display nail designs input / selected by the user via the operation unit 12, etc., various guide screens, warning display screens, and the like.

[0017] The printing device 1 also includes a communication unit 14 (see FIG. 2). The communication unit 14 is configured to be able to transmit and receive information to and from the terminal device 7. The communication between the printing device 1 and the terminal device 7 is performed, for example, by wireless LAN or the like. However, the communication between the printing device 1 and the terminal device 7 is not limited to this and may be by any method. The communication unit 14 is equipped with an antenna chip or the like corresponding to the communication method of the terminal device 7. The communication unit 14 is connected to a communication control unit 311 (see FIG. 2) of the control device 30, which will be described later, and is controlled by the communication control unit 311.

[0018] A finger insertion port 15, which is an opening through which a finger U is inserted when printing with the printing device 1, is formed on the front side of the housing 11 of the printing device 1 (the front side in the Y direction in Figure 1), approximately in the center in the left-right direction of the device (the X direction in Figures 1 and 3). The inside of the housing 11 is divided into upper and lower sections by a partition plate 16, and a finger holding section 2 is provided on the upper side of the partition plate 16 at a position corresponding to the finger insertion opening 15, on which a finger U is placed and held when it is inserted during printing.

[0019] The finger holding portion 2 is adapted to hold a finger U with the surface of the nail T exposed, and a finger support member 21 for receiving the pad of the held finger U is provided on the underside of the finger holding portion 2, i.e., on the partition plate 16. By holding a finger U on the finger holding portion 2, a nail T of the finger U is positioned at a predetermined position.

[0020] Inside the housing 11, a printing unit 40 that applies printing to the nail T of the finger U (the surface of the nail T), an imaging unit 50 that captures an image of the finger U including the nail T, and the like are provided.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the photographing section 50 includes a photographing device 51 and a lighting device 52. The photographing device 51 is, for example, a small camera equipped with a solid-state photographing element having about 2 million pixels or more, a lens, etc. The lighting device 52 is, for example, an illumination lamp such as a white LED. The photographing unit 50 illuminates the nail T of the finger U placed on the finger holding unit 2 with the lighting device 52. Then, the photographing device 51 photographs the finger U to obtain a nail image, which is an image of the nail T of the finger U (an image of the finger including a nail image). The photographing section 50 is connected to a photographing control section 312 (see FIG. 2) of the control device 30, which will be described later, and is controlled by the photographing control section 312. The image data of the image captured by the imaging unit 50 may be stored in the storage unit 32 described later. The nail image acquired by the imaging unit 50 may be sent to the terminal device 7 via the communication unit 14.

[0022] The photographing unit 50 is only required to be provided at a position where it can photograph the finger U held by the finger holding unit 2, and the specific arrangement is not particularly limited. In this embodiment, the photographing device 51 and the lighting device 52 are fixedly arranged on the inside of the top surface of the housing 11 at positions where they can face the nail T (surface of the nail T) of the finger U held by the finger holding unit 2. The photographing unit 50 may be configured to be movable in the X and Y directions by a head moving mechanism 49 that moves the print head 41.

[0023] The printing unit 40 includes a print head 41 that prints on the nail surface while moving over the nail T (i.e., above the nail surface), and a head moving mechanism 49 (see FIG. 2) for moving the print head 41 in the X direction (the X direction in FIG. 1, etc., the left-right direction of the printing device 1) and the Y direction (the Y direction in FIG. 1, etc., the front-rear direction of the printing device 1). The print head 41 is supported by an X-direction movement stage for moving the print head 41 in the X direction, and a Y-direction movement stage for moving the print head 41 in the Y direction, and the head movement mechanism 49 is equipped with an X-direction movement motor 46 and a Y-direction movement motor 48, etc., which serve as drive units for appropriately moving the print head 41 in the X and Y directions.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 2, the printing unit 40 of this embodiment has, as the print head 41, a base head 41a and a design head 41b. In this embodiment, the base head 41a is a first head that prints a first layer on the surface of the nail T, which is the surface to be printed, and the design head 41b is a second head that prints a second layer on the surface to be printed (nail T). The first head, the base head 41a, prints a base layer as a first layer on the printing target surface (nail T). The second head, the design head 41b, prints a design layer as a second layer on the printing target surface (nail T). In this embodiment, the design layer printed as the second layer forms a background design that becomes the background of the nail design.

[0025] Specifically, the base head 41a prints a liquid agent (hereinafter referred to as "base ink") that serves as a base before printing the design. The base ink printed by the base head 41a is preferably white or a color close to this so that the ink will have good color when the design is printed. By forming the base in a color such as white, it becomes easier to distinguish it from the color of the skin around the nail T (skin color, etc.), making it easier to recognize the area of ​​the nail T from the nail image. Note that when the base ink is a liquid agent that contains a component that accepts ink, the base layer serves as an ink-receiving layer. The design head 41b prints a design after the base printing by the base head 41a, and is capable of ejecting ink of various colors (hereinafter referred to as "color ink") such as cyan (C; CYAN), magenta (M; MAGENTA), and yellow (Y; YELLOW). Note that the types of color ink that the design head 41b can eject are not limited to these, and it may be capable of ejecting ink of other colors.

[0026] In this embodiment, the base head 41a and the design head 41b both have an ink ejection surface 411 that faces the nail surface and is equipped with a plurality of nozzle openings (not shown) that eject ink. These inkjet heads use an inkjet system that prints by dispersing ink into fine droplets and spraying the ink from the ink ejection surface directly onto the nail surface, which is the printing surface of the printing target (nail T). Each print head 41 (base head 41a and design head 41b) in the printing unit 40, and the X-direction movement motor 46 and Y-direction movement motor 48 which serve as drive units for driving the print heads 41, are connected to a print control unit 315 (see FIG. 2) of the control device 30 which will be described later, and are controlled by the print control unit 315.

[0027] The control device 30 installed in the printing device 1 is a computer having a control unit 31 (see FIG. 2) composed of a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) not shown, and a memory unit 32 (see FIG. 2) composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. (neither shown).

[0028] The storage unit 32 stores various programs for operating the printing device 1, various data, and the like. Specifically, the storage unit 32 includes a program storage area 321 in which various programs such as a printing program for performing a printing process are stored, a nail information storage area 322 in which various information related to the nail T is stored, and the like. The programs stored in the program storage area 321 are executed by the control device 30, whereby each unit of the printing device 1 is controlled in an integrated manner.

[0029] From a functional perspective, the control unit 31 includes a communication control unit 311, an imaging control unit 312, a nail information detection unit 313, a print data generation unit 314, a print control unit 315, a display control unit 316, etc. The functions of the communication control unit 311, the imaging control unit 312, the nail information detection unit 313, the print data generation unit 314, the print control unit 315, the display control unit 316, etc. are realized by cooperation between the CPU of the control unit 31 and a program stored in a program storage area 321 of the storage unit 32.

[0030] The communication control unit 311 controls the operation of the communication unit 14. In this embodiment, the communication control unit 311 controls communication with the terminal device 7, and receives nail design data and the like when the data is transmitted from the terminal device 7. When the nail image is acquired by the photographing unit 50, the nail image data may be transmitted to the terminal device 7.

[0031] The photographing control unit 312 controls the photographing device 51 and the lighting device 52 of the photographing unit 50 to cause the photographing device 51 to photograph an image of the finger (hereinafter referred to as a "nail image") including an image of the nail T of the finger U held by the finger holding unit 2. The image data of the nail image acquired by the photographing unit 50 is transmitted to the terminal device 7 via the communication unit 14. The image data may be stored in the storage unit 32.

[0032] The nail information detection unit 313 detects nail information about the nail T of the finger U based on an image of the nail T of the finger U placed on the finger holding unit 2 captured by the imaging device 51. Here, the nail information includes, for example, the contour of the nail T (the nail contour TL (see FIG. 4, etc.) represented by XY coordinates of the horizontal position of the nail T), the longitudinal length d of the nail T (see FIG. 5, etc.), the widthwise length w of the nail T (see FIG. 5, etc.), the inclination angle of the surface of the nail T with respect to the XY plane (the inclination angle of the nail T, the nail curvature), etc. Note that when the height of the nail T (the vertical position of the nail T) can be acquired from an image captured by the imaging device 51, the height of the nail T is also included in the nail information.

[0033] The print data generating section 314 sets a print area to be printed by the printing section 40 based on the detection result by the nail information detecting section 313, and generates print data. As described above, the photographing device 51 of the photographing section 50 photographs the nail T to be printed, and nail information such as the nail contour TL is detected from the nail image by the nail information detection section 313. Based on the detection result, the print data generation section 314 sets an area (print area) to be printed by the printing section 40 within the area inside the nail contour TL, and generates print data. Specifically, the print data generating unit 314 cuts out image data of the nail design selected by the user to be printed in accordance with the nail contour TL, and performs appropriate enlargement / reduction, etc. to generate print data. When the nail information detection unit 313 detects the curvature, etc. of the nail T, the print data generation unit 314 may perform curved surface correction on the print data based on the curvature, etc. of the nail T. When the curved surface correction is performed, print data that is more suited to the shape of the nail T can be generated.

[0034] In this embodiment, the nail design data stored in the design storage area 822 and provided to the printing device 1 includes background design data Dd and non-printing item data Bd. The print data generation unit 313 of this embodiment sets background design data Dd as first data for the surface of the nail T, which is the surface to be printed (the area inside the nail contour TL), and sets non-printed item data Bd as second data by overlaying it within the area where this first data (background design data Dd) is set, thereby generating print data in which the area where the second data (non-printed item data Bd) is set within the area where the first data is set is a non-printed area ArB (see Figure 8, etc.) that is not printed. The generation of print data by the print data generating unit 313 will be described in detail later.

[0035] The print control unit 315 is a control means for controlling each head (the base head 41a and the design head 41b). Specifically, the print control unit 315 is a control unit that outputs a control signal to the print unit 40 based on the print data generated in the print data generation unit 314, and controls the X-direction movement motor 46, the Y-direction movement motor 48, the print head 41, and the like of the print unit 40 so as to perform printing on the nail T according to the print data.

[0036] The display control unit 316 controls the display unit 13 to cause the display unit 13 to display various display screens. In this embodiment, the display control unit 316 causes the display unit 13 to display a design editing screen 131 (see FIG. 5 and the like) on which the user can edit the design. In addition, the display control unit 316 may cause the display unit 13 to display various images, messages for the user, various instructions, and the like.

[0037] As described above, in this embodiment, the printing device 1 operates in cooperation with the terminal device 7. The terminal device 7 is, for example, a mobile terminal device such as a smartphone. The terminal device 7 is not limited to a smartphone. For example, the terminal device 7 may be a tablet personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a "PC"), a notebook PC, a desktop PC, a game terminal device, or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 7 includes an operation unit 71, a display unit 72, a communication unit 73, a control device 80, and the like.

[0038] The operation unit 71 is capable of performing various inputs, settings, etc. in response to user operations, and is, for example, a touch panel integrally provided on the surface of the display unit 72. When the operation unit 71 is operated, an input signal corresponding to the operation is transmitted to the control unit 81. Various operation screens are displayed on the touch panel configured in the display unit 72 under the control of a display control unit 812 described later, and the user can perform various input / setting operations by touching the touch panel. The operation unit 71 for performing various input / setting operations is not limited to a touch panel, and various operation buttons, a keyboard, etc. may be provided as the operation unit 71, for example.

[0039] In this embodiment, when a user operates the operation unit 71, various instructions such as starting printing are output from the terminal device 7 to the printing device 1, and the terminal device 7 also functions as an operation unit for the printing device 1. In addition, the user can operate the operation unit 71 to select a nail design to be printed on the nail T, for example.

[0040] The display unit 72 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic ELD, or other flat display. As described above, a touch panel for performing various inputs may be integrally configured on the surface of the display unit 72. In this case, the touch panel functions as the operation unit 71. In this embodiment, the display unit 72 can display a nail design input / selected by the user via the operation unit 71, various guide screens, warning display screens, and the like.

[0041] The communication unit 73 is configured to be able to communicate with the communication unit 13 of the printing device 1 . As described above, communication between the printing device 1 and the terminal device 7 may be performed by either a wireless connection method or a wired connection method, and there is no specific limitation on the method. The communication unit 73 may be any device that can communicate with the printing device 1, and a communication standard that matches the communication standard of the communication unit 13 of the printing device 1 is applied. The communication unit 13 is connected to a communication control unit 811 (see FIG. 2) of the control device 80, which will be described later, and is controlled by the communication control unit 811.

[0042] As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 80 of the terminal device 7 of this embodiment is a computer including a control unit 81 constituted by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) not shown, and a memory unit 82 constituted by a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory) not shown.

[0043] The storage unit 82 stores various programs and various data for operating each unit of the terminal device 7. Specifically, the ROM etc. of this embodiment stores various programs such as an operating program 821a for controlling each part of the terminal device 7, as well as a nail print application program 821b (hereinafter referred to as "nail print AP") for performing nail printing using the printing device 1, and the control unit 81 expands these programs, for example, in a working area of ​​RAM, and the programs are executed in the control unit 81, thereby controlling each part of the terminal device 7.

[0044] The storage unit 82 of this embodiment is also provided with a design storage area 822 for storing data on nail designs (also simply called designs). The nail design (design) stored in the design storage area 822 may be an existing design prepared in advance, or may be a design created by the user. If the terminal device 7 is connectable to various networks, it may be possible to import a nail design stored in a network-connectable server device (not shown). As described above, the nail design data in this embodiment includes background design data Dd and non-printed item data Bd.

[0045] From a functional perspective, the control unit 81 of the terminal device 7 includes a communication control unit 811, a display control unit 812, etc. The functions of the communication control unit 811, the display control unit 812, etc. are realized by cooperation between the CPU of the control unit 81 and a program stored in the ROM of the storage unit 82. Note that the functions of the control unit 81 of the terminal device 7 are not limited to these, and the control unit 81 may include various other functional units. The communication control unit 811 controls the operation of the communication unit 73. In this embodiment, the communication control unit 811 controls communication with the printing device 1 and transmits nail design data and the like to the printing device 1. Furthermore, the display control unit 812 controls the display unit 72 to cause the display unit 72 to display various display screens.

[0046] Next, a print control method by the printing device 1 of this embodiment will be described. When performing nail printing using the printing device 1 of this embodiment, a user operates the operation unit 12 of the printing device 1 to turn on the power and start it up. The terminal device 7 is also turned on and the execution of nail print processing is selected from the operation unit 71 of the terminal device 7. This starts up the nail print AP 821b. When Nail Print AP821b starts up, The display control unit 812 of the terminal device 7 causes the display unit 72 to display an instruction screen for instructing the user to place the nail T (and the finger U) to be printed on the finger holding unit 2 of the printing device 1. When a finger U is placed on the finger holding unit 2, the finger U is photographed by the photographing unit 50, and a nail image (an image of the finger U including the nail T) as shown in Fig. 4 is obtained (step S1). Then, the nail information detecting unit 313 detects nail information such as the nail contour TL by performing image processing on the nail image obtained by the photographing unit 50 (step S2). When the nail contour TL is detected by the nail information detection unit 313, the display control unit 316 displays the design editing screen 131 on which the nail contour TL is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 13 (step S3).

[0047] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the design editing screen. As shown in FIG. 5, the design editing screen 131 displays the detected nail contour TL and, when the inner area of ​​the nail contour TL is to be printed, the print start position (x0) in the X-axis direction and the print start position (y0) in the Y-axis direction, the longitudinal length d of the nail T, and the width w of the nail T together with the nail contour TL. The display contents of the design editing screen 131 are not limited to the illustrated example. For example, only the nail contour TL may be displayed, or a grid or the like may be displayed superimposed on the nail contour TL on the entire screen so that the positions in the X-axis and Y-axis directions can be more clearly understood. In this case, it is preferable that the grid is displayed together with the actual values ​​when the design is printed on the nail T. In this way, the user can accurately predict the finished product and edit the design more precisely.

[0048] When the design editing screen 131 is displayed on the display unit 13, the display control unit 812 of the terminal device 7 causes the display unit 72 to display a list of nail designs and a message instructing the user to select a desired design. The user operates the touch panel or other operation unit 71 to select a nail design to be printed on the nail T. As a result, an operation signal is sent to the control device 80, and the desired nail design is selected as the design to be printed on the nail T. Information on the selected nail design is also sent from the terminal device 7 to the control device 30 of the printing device 1.

[0049] As described above, the nail design data in this embodiment includes background design data Dd and non-printed item data Bd. FIG. 6 is an image diagram showing an example of background design data, and FIG. 7 is an image diagram showing an example of non-print item data. 6, the background design data Dd is data of a design to be printed on the nail T, and is, for example, a BMP file, a JPEG file, or a PNG file with 24-bit RGB color values. It is not limited to those stored in the design storage area 822, and may be image data with 24-bit RGB color values ​​received via a network. The data format of the background design data Dd is not limited to those exemplified here. The background design data Dd is rectangular image data that is slightly larger than a typical nail T. The background design data Dd is arranged so as to cover the nail area (the inner area of ​​the nail outline TL), and can be moved, rotated, or otherwise manipulated in response to user operations. The non-printing item data Bd is used to set the portions of the background design that are not to be printed (where ink is not to be placed) (non-printing areas ArB, see FIG. 8, etc.).

[0050] Note that, although Figures 6 and 7 show one type each of background design data Dd and non-printed item data Bd as examples, multiple types of background design data Dd and non-printed item data Bd are provided, and the user can select the background design data Dd and non-printed item data Bd as appropriate. For example, various designs such as a solid color design or a gradation design may be selected as the background design. In addition, although FIG. 7 illustrates a circular item as an example of a non-printed item, the shape of the non-printed item is not limited to this. For example, the non-printed items may be selected as rectangles, polygons, stars, etc. Also, the circular non-printed items shown in Fig. 7 may be transformed into elliptical items by the user by stretching them vertically or horizontally. Similarly, a square non-printed item may be transformed into a rectangular or thin strip-shaped item. Furthermore, multiple non-printed items may be selected, in which case multiple non-printed items of the same shape may be selected, or non-printed items of different shapes may be selected and combined.

[0051] First, when the user selects any background design, the input instruction is acquired by the control unit 80 of the terminal device 7 and the control unit 30 of the printing device 1, and the data Dd of the background design is selected as the background design to be printed on the nail T (step S4). When the background design data Dd is selected, the print data generating unit 314 fits the data Dd to the nail contour TL (step S5).

[0052] Next, the user selects a non-printing item to set the portion of the background design that the user does not want to print (does not want to have ink on it). When the user selects any non-printing item, the input instruction is acquired by the control unit 80 of the terminal device 7 and the control unit 30 of the printer 1, and the data Bd of the non-printing item is selected (step S6). When non-print item data Bd is selected, the non-print item is displayed within the design editing screen 131. The user uses various input means such as a mouse or a stylus pen to move and deform the non-printed item as appropriate, and places it at a desired position and size within the nail outline TL into which the background design is fitted. The content input by the user is acquired by the control unit 80 of the terminal device 7 and the control unit 30 of the printing device 1, and the non-printed item is placed at the specified position and size (step S7).

[0053] Figure 8 shows an example of a design editing screen 131 in which background design data Dd shown in Figure 6 is selected as the background design, non-printed item data Bd shown in Figure 7 is selected as the non-printed item, and the non-printed item is placed slightly to the right of the center in the background design. As shown in FIG. 8, once the type, size, arrangement, etc. of the background design and non-printed items have been determined, the print data generation unit 314 generates print data for the design, with the area of ​​the background design in which the non-printed items are arranged as a non-printed area (see non-printed area ArB1 in FIG. 8) (step S8). This design printing data is data for an image to be printed by the design head 41b.

[0054] Furthermore, the print data generating unit 314 generates background print data corresponding to the design print data (step S9). The base printing data is data for an image printed by the base head 41a, and the base printing data Wd is set in the same area as the background design data Dd is set (i.e., the inner area of ​​the nail contour TL), and the non-printing area ArB2 is set by arranging the non-printing item data Bd2 within the area where this base printing data Wd is set. Fig. 9 shows an example of base printing data generated by the print data generating unit 314. Note that, for ease of comparison, Fig. 9 shows the same layout as the design editing screen shown in Fig. 8, but the base printing data does not have to be displayed on the design editing screen 131.

[0055] As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the non-printing area (see non-printing area ArB2 in Figure 9) in which non-printing item data Bd (second data Bd2) constituting the base printing data printed by the first head, the base head 41a, is set is set larger than the non-printing area (see non-printing area ArB1 in Figure 8) in which non-printing item data Bd (second data Bd1) constituting the design printing data printed by the second head, the design head 41b, is set. Here, "wide" refers to the idea of ​​forming non-printing area ArB2 by expanding non-printing area ArB1 towards the periphery, whereby non-printing area ArB1 overlaps with non-printing area ArB2 and non-printing area ArB2 is set so that non-printing area ArB1 and parts of the base printing data Wd other than non-printing area ArB2 do not overlap. The extent to which the non-printing area ArB2 is to be wider than the non-printing area ArB1 is set appropriately.

[0056] When a design (background design) is printed on top of a base, if the base is visible protruding from the nail, the nail design will look unattractive. In this regard, by making the non-printing area ArB2 in the base printing data wider than the non-printing area ArB1 in the design printing data, even if there is a slight misalignment in the printing position between the base head 41a and the design head 41b, the base will not go beyond the edge, resulting in a high-quality nail design.

[0057] When the print data generation unit 314 generates the print data, it forms CMY output data from the print data and sends this CMY output data to the print control unit 315. The print control unit 315 outputs the CMY output data based on this print data to the printing unit 40, and controls the printing operation in cooperation with the print processing program, etc. (step S10). Specifically, the print control unit 315 first ejects base ink, such as white ink, from the base head 41a based on the base printing data to form the base in the area within the nail contour TL. At this time, printing is not performed in the area set as the non-print area ArB2.

[0058] Next, the print control unit 315 ejects design inks of various colors from the design head 41b based on the design printing data, forming a background design in the area where the base is formed within the nail contour TL. At this time, printing is not performed on the area set as the non-printing area ArB1. This maintains the non-printing area ArB1 in a bare nail state with nothing (i.e., neither the base layer nor the design layer) applied. In this embodiment, since the non-printing area ArB1 is narrower than the non-printing area ArB2, the base does not extend beyond the non-printing area and is not visible, and the background design is printed up to the edge of the non-printing area ArB1.

[0059] In the non-printed area ArB1 where the natural nail state is maintained, it is assumed that various decorations will be applied by methods other than printing, such as partially applying gel nails or attaching decorative members S such as rhinestones. 10 shows an example of a completed nail design in which decorative material S such as rhinestones is attached to the non-printing area ArB1. By attaching a three-dimensional decorative material S in this way, it is possible to realize a three-dimensional nail design that cannot be realized by printing alone. The decorations provided in the non-printing area ArB1 are not limited to those exemplified here. For example, the decorative member S can be made of various materials such as rhinestones, glitter, beads, etc.

[0060] It is not necessary to decorate the non-print area ArB with any kind of decoration other than printing, and the color of the natural nail may remain as part of the design. In addition, when you want to apply a design to only a part of the nail T, such as French nails, you can set the area of ​​the data for printing on the entire nail excluding the area you want to print as French nails as the non-print area ArB. In this case, you can easily print only a part of the nail T using the data for printing on the entire nail, without having to prepare separate data for partial designs such as French nails.

[0061] By providing the non-printing area ArB in this manner, a wide variety of nail designs can be realized, such as nail designs that combine printing with other techniques.

[0062] As described above, according to this embodiment, the printing device 1 includes a print data generation unit 313 that generates printing data, a printing unit 40 that prints on the surface of the nail T, which is the surface to be printed, based on the printing data generated by the print data generation unit 313, and a control unit 30 that controls the printing operation of the printing unit 40. The print data generation unit 313 sets background design data Dd as first data for the surface of the nail T, and overlays non-printed item data Bd as second data within the area where the background design data Dd is set, generating print data that designates the area where the non-printed item data Bd is set within the area where the background design data Dd is set as a non-printed area ArB that is not printed. This allows a portion of the surface of the nail T to be left unprinted, making it possible to apply various decorations directly onto the bare nail, which would tend to peel off if ink was applied. Furthermore, even if data for a partial design such as French nails is not separately provided, it is possible to easily print a design only on a portion of the nail T using data for printing on the entire surface of the nail. Furthermore, even if decoration is applied manually before printing, it is possible to print while avoiding the decorated area. In this manner, the configuration of this embodiment makes it possible to easily realize a wide variety of nail designs.

[0063] In addition, the printing unit 40 of this embodiment includes a first head that prints a first layer on the surface of the nail T, which is the surface to be printed, and a second head that prints a second layer on the surface of the nail T, and the non-printing area ArB2 in which the second data constituting the printing data to be printed by the first head is set is set larger than the non-printing area ArB1 in which the second data constituting the printing data to be printed by the second head is set. In this way, when printing multiple layers, by making the non-printed area ArB2 of the lower layer wider than the non-printed area ArB1 of the layer being printed on top, the lower layer does not extend beyond the non-printed area ArB1 of the upper layer, allowing for a beautifully finished nail design.

[0064] In particular, when the first head is a base head 41a that prints a base layer and the second head is a design head 41b that prints a design layer, if the base layer, which is formed in white or the like, is visually observed protruding from the design layer, it will be noticeable and will not result in a high-quality finish. In this regard, in the present embodiment, the base layer formed as the first layer can be prevented from protruding beyond the design layer formed as the second layer, thereby achieving a beautifully finished nail design.

[0065] Furthermore, if the design layer printed as the second layer constitutes a background design that serves as the background of the nail design, the decoration can be accentuated, for example, by attaching a decorative member S to the non-printed area ArB.

[0066] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and various modifications are possible without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0067] For example, in this embodiment, the printing device 1 is provided with a base head 41a and a design head 41b as the print head 41, and a single device is used to perform everything from applying the base to printing the design, but the configuration of the printing device 1 is not limited to this. For example, the printing of the base and the printing of the design may be performed by separate printing devices. In this case, it is preferable to share the information of the printing data between the two printing devices and adjust the non-printing area ArB in the printing data printed by the base printing device to be larger than the non-printing area ArB in the printing data printed by the design printing device. Furthermore, the application of the base coat is not limited to being performed by a printing device, but may be performed by hand by a user or the like. When printing is performed using a printing device for the base and a printing device for the design, and the two printing devices cannot work together, or when the base is applied by hand, etc., a non-printing area ArB is provided when applying the base, and the printing device for printing the design performs image recognition or the like on the nail T to which the base is applied, and recognizes the area in the base layer where the base is applied and the non-printing area ArB. It is preferable to set the printing data so that the non-printing area ArB in the design layer is narrower than the non-printing area ArB in the base layer so that the base does not extend beyond the edge.

[0068] Furthermore, it is not essential to provide a base layer in addition to the design layer, and only the design layer may be printed. In this case, there is no need to take into consideration the overlap of the non-printing areas ArB, as in the case where a base layer is provided.

[0069] Furthermore, the display unit on which the design editing screen and the like are displayed is not limited to the display unit 13 of the printing device 1. It may be displayed on the display unit 72 of the terminal device 7. In this case, the printing device 1 may not be provided with the display unit 13.

[0070] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the printing device 1 is configured to include inkjet type print heads 41 as the print heads 41 (base head 41a, design head 41b), but the configuration of the print heads 41 is not limited to this. Either or both of the base head 41a and the design head 41b may be of a type other than the inkjet type, such as a pen plotter type.

[0071] In addition, in this embodiment, the control unit 30 of the printing device 1 is equipped with a nail information detection unit 313 that acquires nail information from a nail image and a print data generation unit 314, and an example is given of a case in which all processing is completed in the printing device 1, but the method of print control is not limited to being realized only by the printing device 1. For example, the control unit 80 of the terminal device 7 may have a functional unit for detecting nail information. In this case, the nail image acquired by the photographing unit 50 of the printing device 1 is sent to the terminal device 7, and the nail information is detected. Furthermore, the control unit 80 of the terminal device 7 may have a functional unit that generates print data, and the nail image captured by the photographing unit 50 of the printing device 1 may be sent to the terminal device 7, and the print data may be generated in the control unit 80 of the terminal device 7. When the print data is generated on the terminal device 7 side, the generated print data is sent to the printing device 1, and the printing unit 50 of the printing device 1 performs printing based on the data. In this way, by performing control operations other than printing and photographing on the terminal device 7 side, the printing device 1 can have a simple configuration.

[0072] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents. The inventions described in the claims originally attached to this application are set forth below. The claim numbers in the appended claims are the same as those in the claims originally attached to this application. [Additional Notes] <Claim 1> a print data generating unit for generating print data; a printing unit that prints on a printing target surface based on the printing data generated by the print data generating unit; A control unit that controls a printing operation of the printing unit; Equipped with The printing device is characterized in that the print data generation unit sets first data on the printing surface, sets second data in an overlapping manner within the area where the first data is set, and generates the print data in such a way that the area within the area where the first data is set where the second data is set is a non-printing area that is not printed. <Claim 2> the printing unit includes a first head that prints a first layer on the printing target surface, and a second head that prints a second layer on the printing target surface; The printing device according to claim 1, characterized in that the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the printing data to be printed by the first head is set is set larger than the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the printing data to be printed by the second head is set. <Claim 3> the first head is a base head that prints a base layer as the first layer on the printing target surface, 3. The printing device according to claim 2, wherein the second head is a design head that prints a design layer as the second layer on the printing target surface. <Claim 4> 4. The printing device according to claim 3, wherein the design layer printed as the second layer constitutes a background design that serves as a background for the nail design. <Claim 5> A printing control method for a printing device having a printing unit that prints on a printing target surface, comprising: A print data generating step of generating print data; a print control step of controlling the printing unit so as to perform printing based on the print data generated in the print data generating step; Including, The print control method is characterized in that the print data generation process sets first data within a surface to be printed, sets second data in an overlapping manner within the area where the first data is set, and generates the print data such that the area within the area where the first data is set where the second data is set is designated as a non-printing area that is not printed. <Claim 6> On the computer, A program characterized by realizing a print data generation function that generates print data by setting first data within a surface to be printed, setting second data in an overlapping manner within the area where the first data is set, and designating the area within the area where the first data is set where the second data is set as a non-printing area that is not printed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 1 Printing device 7 Terminal Equipment 13 Display section 31 Control Unit 32 Storage section 40 Printing Department 41 Print Head 41a Base Head 41b Design Head 313 Nail information detection unit 314 Print data generation unit 315 Printing control unit T-claw U finger

Claims

1. a print data generating unit for generating print data; a printing unit that prints on a printing target surface based on the printing data generated by the print data generating unit; A control unit that controls a printing operation of the printing unit; Equipped with the print data generating unit sets first data on the printing surface, sets second data so as to overlap the first data in an area in which the first data is set, and generates the print data in such a manner that the area in which the first data is set, in which the second data is set, is a non-print area that is not printed; The printing unit prints a first layer and a second layer on the printing target surface, A printing device characterized in that the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the first layer of printing data is set is set larger than the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the second layer of printing data is set.

2. The printing device according to claim 1 , wherein the printing section includes a first head that prints the first layer on the printing target surface, and a second head that prints the second layer on the printing target surface.

3. the first head is a base head that prints a base layer as the first layer on the printing target surface, 3. The printing device according to claim 2, wherein the second head is a design head that prints a design layer as the second layer on the printing target surface.

4. 4. The printing device according to claim 3, wherein the design layer printed as the second layer constitutes a background design that serves as a background for the nail design.

5. A printing control method for a printing device having a printing unit that prints on a printing target surface, comprising: A print data generating step of generating print data; a print control step of controlling the printing unit so as to perform printing based on the print data generated in the print data generating step; Including, the print data generating step includes setting first data within a surface to be printed, setting second data so as to overlap the first data within the area in which the first data is set, and generating the print data in such a manner that the area in which the first data is set within the area in which the second data is set is a non-print area that is not printed; The printing control step includes printing a first layer and a second layer on the printing target surface, A printing control method characterized in that the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the first layer of printing data is set is set larger than the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the second layer of printing data is set.

6. On the computer, a print data generation function for generating print data by setting first data within a surface to be printed, setting second data so as to overlap the area in which the first data is set, and defining the area in which the second data is set within the area in which the first data is set as a non-print area that is not printed; a printing function for printing on the printing target surface based on the printing data generated by the printing data generating function; The printing function prints a first layer and a second layer on the printing target surface, A program characterized in that the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the first layer of printing data is set is set larger than the non-printing area in which the second data constituting the second layer of printing data is set.

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