Information processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To solve a problem that operator's judgement based on visual inspection has limitations on accuracy of judging whether or not additional ultraviolet light radiation is needed.SOLUTION: An information processing device controls a printer including: a discharge unit which discharges an ultraviolet curable paint; and a radiation unit which radiates ultraviolet light to the paint discharged to a print medium. The information processing device includes: an acquisition part which acquires characteristic information of the paint, print conditions during printing by the printer, and image data showing images to be printed by the printer; and a determination part which determines whether or not post-radiation, which is additional radiation of the ultraviolet light, is needed to be performed after the printing of the images involving radiation of the ultraviolet light by the radiation part based on the characteristic information, the print conditions, and the image data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] There are printing devices that perform printing using paint that hardens when irradiated with ultraviolet light. Such printing devices harden the discharged paint by irradiating it with ultraviolet light during printing. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which ultraviolet light is irradiated after the discharge of the paint that hardens when irradiated with ultraviolet light. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-30602 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In such printing devices, depending on the characteristics of the print medium and paint, the paint may not be completely cured after printing. In such cases, additional UV irradiation is performed. An operator visually checks the print results to determine whether additional UV irradiation is required. However, there are limits to the accuracy of the operator's visual determination of whether additional UV irradiation is required. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In view of the above problems, the information processing device is an information processing device that controls a printing device including an ejection unit that ejects paint that hardens with ultraviolet light and an irradiation unit that irradiates the paint ejected onto a printing medium with ultraviolet light, and is equipped with an acquisition unit that acquires characteristic information of the paint, printing conditions for printing by the printing device, and image data that shows an image to be printed by the printing device, and a determination unit that determines, based on the characteristic information, the printing conditions, and the image data, whether or not post-irradiation, which is additional irradiation of ultraviolet light, is required after printing of the image, which involves irradiation of ultraviolet light by the irradiation unit. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing device or the like. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating paint to be ejected onto each pixel. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating curing energy in a selected region. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control process. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of post-illumination determination processing. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print execution process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] Here, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) Configuration of information processing device: (2) Printing control process: (3) Other embodiments:

[0008] (1) Configuration of information processing device: FIG. 1 illustrates an example of the configuration of an information processing device 100 and a printing device 200 according to this embodiment. The information processing device 100 according to this embodiment is an information processing device that controls the printing device 200, and is, for example, a personal computer, a tablet device, a smartphone, or the like. The printing device 200 prints an image on a printing medium (e.g., an acrylic plate, a glass plate, a resin medium (e.g., a resin smartphone case), printing paper, or the like) in response to an instruction from the information processing device 100. In this embodiment, the printing device 200 prints on the printing medium by ejecting predetermined paint onto the printing medium. In this embodiment, the predetermined paint is a colorant (e.g., a dye, a pigment, or the like) of each of the colors cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). However, the printing device 200 may also use other paints for printing, such as a white colorant or a paint for achieving a surface effect (e.g., a clear ink, a varnish, or the like). Hereinafter, the C, M, Y, and K color materials used by the printing device 200 will be referred to as C color material, M color material, Y color material, and K color material, respectively. The paint used by the printing device 200 of this embodiment is paint that hardens when irradiated with ultraviolet light. In this embodiment, the printing device 200 performs printing by ejecting paint onto a printing medium and irradiating the ejected paint with ultraviolet light. The information processing device 100 and the printing device 200 are connected to each other via wire or wirelessly so that they can communicate with each other.

[0009] The hardware included in the information processing device 100 and the printing device 200 will be described. The information processing device 100 includes a processor 110, a communication unit 120, a storage medium 130, and a UI unit 140. The information processing device 100 also includes a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM), both of which are not shown. The processor 110 controls the information processing device 100 by executing various programs stored in the ROM, the storage medium 130, or the like. The processor 110 may be configured as a single chip or multiple chips. In the present embodiment, the processor 110 is a central processing unit (CPU), but it may also be configured as an ASIC or the like, or as a combination of a CPU and an ASIC. The communication unit 120 includes circuits used for wired or wireless communication with external devices, such as the printing device 200, according to various communication protocols. The storage medium 130 stores various programs, such as a print control program 111, for executing processes to control printing via the printing device 200, as well as various information, such as image data 130a, printing conditions 130b, and characteristic information 130c.

[0010] The image data 130a is data of an image to be printed. Hereinafter, the image to be printed indicated by the image data 130a is referred to as a print image. In this embodiment, the image data 130a is RGB data in which each pixel of the print image divided by a predetermined number of pixels (e.g., 640 x 480, 1200 x 1600, etc.) is expressed by a gradation value of three RGB channels.

[0011] The printing conditions 130b indicate various conditions related to printing the image data 130a (e.g., the print area on the print medium, etc.). In this embodiment, the printing conditions 130b indicate at least the number of printing passes when printing the print image and the image resolution when printing the print image. Here, a printing pass refers to printing one line by moving the print head 240 of the printing device 200 (described later) from one end of the print area to the other in the main scanning direction on the print medium. Here, the main scanning direction will be explained. The printing device 200 performs printing by repeatedly printing line-by-line on the print medium via the print head 240. The direction of this line is the main scanning direction. In the following, the direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction and parallel to the print medium placed during printing is referred to as the sub-scanning direction. The number of printing passes refers to the number of printing passes required to print the same area in the print area. For example, if the number of printing passes is three, the print head 240 will scan each pixel in the image to be printed three times. In this embodiment, the number of printing passes when printing the print image is defined as n. Image resolution is an index indicating the density of paint application (pixel density) on the print medium, and is expressed in units of dots per inch (dpi), for example. If the number of printing passes when printing and the image resolution are associated with each other, printing conditions 130b may indicate either the number of printing passes when printing the print image or the image resolution when printing the print image. This allows processor 110 to identify the number of printing passes when printing the print image and the image resolution from printing conditions 130b.

[0012] In this embodiment, the processor 110 determines the number of printing passes and image resolution when printing the print image based on a specified value designated by the user for the image quality of the print image to be formed on the print medium. In this embodiment, image quality values ​​(e.g., normal image quality, high image quality, etc.) are pre-associated with the number of printing passes and image resolution. The processor 110 determines the number of printing passes and image resolution associated with the specified image quality value as the number of printing passes and image resolution when printing the print image. Note that if the number of printing passes and image resolution are pre-associated, the processor 110 may determine either the number of printing passes or the image resolution based on the specified image quality value. This allows the processor 110 to determine printing conditions for achieving the specified image quality. In this embodiment, the printing conditions 130b are pre-determined by the processor 110 based on information input by the user via the UI unit 140 (described later), but they may also be preset.

[0013] The characteristic information 130c is information indicating the characteristics of various predetermined paints. In this embodiment, this characteristic is a property indicating the ease with which the paint hardens when irradiated with ultraviolet light. In this embodiment, the characteristic information 130c is information indicating how much energy is required to irradiate various paints with ultraviolet light in order to harden them per predetermined unit amount (for example, weight such as 1 g, 1 mg, 1 μg, etc., volume such as 1 L, 1 ml, 1 μl, 1 pL, etc.). Hereinafter, the energy irradiated onto the target by ultraviolet light irradiation is referred to as irradiation energy. Also, below, the irradiation energy required to harden the paint is referred to as curing energy. In this embodiment, the characteristic information 130c is information indicating the curing energy per unit amount for various paints. Hereinafter, the curing energy of a unit amount of paint is referred to as the unit curing energy of that paint. In this embodiment, the characteristic information 130c is information corresponding to the model number of each type of paint and the unit curing energy. However, when only one type of colorant is used for the same color, the characteristic information 130c for the colorant may be information corresponding to the color of each colorant and the unit curing energy. The characteristic information 130c can be obtained, for example, by irradiating unit amounts of each type of paint with various irradiation energies and measuring whether or not the paint has cured.

[0014] The UI unit 140 includes an input unit such as a mouse, keyboard, touchpad, or touch panel operation unit that accepts input from the user, and an output unit such as a monitor, touch panel display unit, or speaker that is used to present information to the user.

[0015] The printing device 200 includes a processor 210, a communication unit 220, a storage medium 230, and a print head 240. The printing device 200 also includes RAM and ROM (not shown). The processor 210 controls the printing device 200 by executing various programs stored in the ROM, storage medium 230, etc. The processor 210 may be configured as a single chip or multiple chips. In this embodiment, the processor 210 is a CPU, but it may also be configured as an ASIC or the like, or as a combination of a CPU and an ASIC. The communication unit 220 includes circuits used for communication with external devices such as the information processing device 100 in accordance with various wired or wireless communication protocols. The storage medium 230 stores various programs, such as a print execution program 211 for controlling printing execution, and various information.

[0016] The print head 240 ejects paint onto the print medium and irradiates it with ultraviolet light. The processor 210 ejects paint onto the print medium and irradiates it with ultraviolet light while moving the print head 240 via a drive mechanism for the print head 240. The processor 210 performs printing by repeatedly printing on the print medium line by line in the main scanning direction via the print head 240.

[0017] The print head 240 includes a discharge unit 241 used to discharge various types of paint, and an irradiation unit 242 that irradiates the paint discharged by the discharge unit 241 with ultraviolet light. In this embodiment, the discharge unit 241 is a nozzle used to discharge various types of paint (in this embodiment, each of the CMYK color materials) used by the printing device 200, and applies the various types of paint to the print medium by discharging the various types of paint. The irradiation unit 242 is a lamp that irradiates ultraviolet light and is arranged on both sides of the discharge unit 241 in the main scanning direction. In this embodiment, the irradiation intensity of the irradiation unit 242 is constant. During scanning of the print head 240, the processor 210 irradiates ultraviolet light onto the paint discharged by the discharge unit 241 onto the print medium via the irradiation unit 242, which is located behind the print head 240 in the scanning direction. In this embodiment, the irradiation unit 242 irradiates the scanned area with ultraviolet light of a fixed intensity per predetermined unit area for a fixed period of time according to the scanning speed when the print head 240 scans through one printing pass. Therefore, the scanned area is irradiated with a fixed amount of irradiation energy per unit area by the irradiation unit 242. Hereinafter, the irradiation energy irradiated onto a unit area by the irradiation unit 242 during one printing pass scan is referred to as unit irradiation energy.

[0018] Next, the functions of the information processing device 100 and the printing device 200 will be described. The processor 110 of the information processing device 100 executes the print control program 111 stored in the storage medium 130, thereby functioning as an acquisition unit 111a, a determination unit 111b, a print control unit 111c, and a post-irradiation control unit 111d.

[0019] The acquiring unit 111a has a function of acquiring the characteristic information 130c, the printing conditions 130b, and the image data 130a. The processor 110 acquires the characteristic information 130c, the printing conditions 130b, and the image data 130a from the storage medium 130 using the function of the acquiring unit 111a.

[0020] The determination unit 111b has a function that determines, based on the characteristic information 130c, printing conditions 130b, and image data 130a acquired by the function of the acquisition unit 111a, whether or not post-irradiation, which is additional irradiation by the irradiation unit 242, is required after printing of the image data 130a, which involves irradiation of ultraviolet rays by the irradiation unit 242. Furthermore, when it is determined that post-irradiation is required, the determination unit 111b of this embodiment also has a function that determines the irradiation energy to be irradiated onto the paint ejected onto the printing medium by the post-irradiation to be performed, based on the characteristic information 130c, printing conditions 130b, and image data 130a. The processor 110, using the function of the determination unit 111b, obtains the unit curing energy of each type of paint used by the printing device 200 based on the characteristic information 130c. In this embodiment, since the characteristic information 130c indicates the unit curing energy of each type of paint, the processor 110 obtains the unit curing energy of each type of paint by reading the characteristic information 130c.

[0021] The processor 110 generates print data for the print image based on the image data 130a and the printing conditions 130b. Here, print data refers to data indicating the printing mode to be executed by the printing device 200. In this embodiment, print data indicates the print area on the print medium, image resolution, number of printing passes, amount of paint to be ejected per pixel, etc. More specifically, the processor 110 scales the RGB data of the print image indicated by the image data 130a based on the image resolution indicated by the printing conditions 130b. The processor 110 then converts the scaled RGB data into gradation data for each color (C, M, Y, and K in this embodiment) of the default paint (colorant) used by the printing device 200. The processor 110 then performs halftone processing based on the converted gradation data to determine which paint and how much to eject per pixel in the print area to achieve the color of the print image. The processor 110 acquires the determined data indicating which paint and how much to eject per pixel on the print medium as print data for the print image.

[0022] Here, using FIG. 2, we will explain the dispensing of paint onto each pixel when a print image is printed onto a print area of ​​a print medium. In this embodiment, the number of printing passes when printing a print image is n. Therefore, n scans are performed by the print head 240 for each pixel. Hereinafter, the kth (kth) scan (an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n) scan by the print head 240 will be referred to as the kth scan. During each scan, the print head 240 dispenses paint onto each pixel targeted for paint dispensing, and then irradiates the pixels onto which paint has been dispensed with ultraviolet light. Furthermore, the print head 240 does not dispense paint onto pixels not targeted for paint dispensing, but irradiates them with ultraviolet light. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the paint dispensed for each pixel in the print area in each of the 1st to nth scans is specified. Note that if no paint is dispensed in the kth scan, no paint is dispensed in the kth scan. Hereinafter, the paint dispensed in the kth scan will be referred to as the kth dispensed paint.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 3, the paint ejected in the first pass through the paint ejected in the nth pass is also specified for any region in the printing region. Here, the kth pass paint ejected in a certain region in the printing region is the sum of the paint ejected in the kth pass for all pixels included in that region. In addition to the ultraviolet light emitted by the irradiation unit 242 during the kth pass scan, the kth pass paint is also irradiated with ultraviolet light emitted by the irradiation unit 242 during the (k+1)th pass through the nth pass scans. With one scan by the print head 240, this region is irradiated with an irradiation energy of (unit irradiation energy × (area of ​​this region / unit area)). Therefore, when the print head 240 scans n printing passes, the paint ejected in the kth pass in this region is irradiated with an irradiation energy of (unit irradiation energy × (area of ​​this region / unit area)) × (n-k+1). If the curing energy of the paint ejected in the kth pass in this region is greater than this irradiation energy, the paint ejected in the kth pass in this region will not be sufficiently cured.

[0024] Therefore, in this embodiment, the processor 110 selects an area from the printing area, and compares the curing energy with the irradiation energy for each of the paints ejected in the first to nth passes in the selected area to determine whether or not additional ultraviolet irradiation is required after printing is completed. Details of this process are explained below. Processor 110 selects an area of ​​a predetermined size from the print area where the print image is to be printed. In this embodiment, this predetermined size is the size of one pixel. That is, processor 110 selects an area of ​​one pixel from among the multiple pixels included in the print image to be printed in the print area. Hereinafter, the area selected here will be referred to as the selected area.

[0025] The processor 110 specifies the type and amount of each of the paints to be ejected in the selected area in the first to nth passes based on the print data of the print image. The processor 110 derives the curing energy for each of the paints to be ejected in the first to nth passes based on the specified type and amount of paint and the unit curing energy of each type of paint acquired based on the characteristic information 130c. More specifically, processor 110 derives the curing energy of the paint dispensed in the kth pass of the selected region as follows: Processor 110 identifies the type and amount of paint dispensed in the kth pass of the selected region based on the print data of the print image. Processor 110 derives the curing energy of each type of paint dispensed in the kth pass of the selected region from the unit curing energy of each type of paint acquired based on characteristic information 130c and the amount of each type of paint dispensed in the kth pass of the selected region. Processor 110 then derives the sum of the derived curing energies as the curing energy of the paint dispensed in the kth pass of the selected region.

[0026] For example, suppose the types and amounts of paint dispensed onto the selected area in the kth pass are 10 pL of C colorant, 5 pL of M colorant, and 20 pL of Y colorant. In this case, processor 110 obtains the unit curing energy of each of the C colorant, M colorant, and Y colorant from characteristic information 130c. Processor 110 then derives the curing energy of 10 pL of C colorant dispensed onto the selected area in the kth pass as (unit curing energy of C colorant × (10 pL / unit amount)). Processor 110 also derives the curing energy of 5 pL of M colorant dispensed onto the selected area in the kth pass as (unit curing energy of M colorant × (5 pL / unit amount)). Processor 110 also derives the curing energy of 10 pL of Y colorant dispensed onto the selected area in the kth pass as (unit curing energy of Y colorant × (20 pL / unit amount)). Then, the processor 110 calculates the sum of the curing energies calculated for each colorant as the curing energy of the paint ejected in the kth pass of the selected region.

[0027] The processor 110 also derives the irradiation energy irradiated onto the kth pass-discharged paint of the selected area as follows: The irradiation energy irradiated onto the selected area by the irradiation unit 242 when the print head 240 scans in one printing pass is (unit irradiation energy × (area of ​​selected area / unit area)). The kth pass-discharged paint of the selected area is irradiated (n-k+1) times by the irradiation unit 242. Therefore, the processor 110 derives the irradiation energy irradiated onto the kth pass-discharged paint of the selected area as (n-k+1) × (unit irradiation energy × (area of ​​selected area / unit area)).

[0028] The processor 110 compares the curing energy of the paint ejected in the kth pass of the selected region with the irradiation energy irradiated to the paint ejected in the kth pass of the selected region. If the curing energy is greater than the irradiation energy, the processor 110 determines that the paint ejected in the kth pass of the selected region has not yet been sufficiently cured even after printing is completed, and that post-irradiation is required.

[0029] The processor 110 selects an unselected area from the print area as a new selected area and performs the same process on the selected area. The newly selected selected area may or may not overlap with the previously selected area. The processor 110 repeats the above process until all areas from the print area are selected as selected areas, thereby determining whether post-irradiation is required to harden the print image.

[0030] The processor 110 also calculates the difference between the curing energy and the irradiation energy applied for each of the first through nth passes of the paint dispensed in each selected region. If the processor 110 determines that post-irradiation is required, it derives the irradiation energy to be applied to the print image in post-irradiation based on the calculated difference. More specifically, the processor 110 derives the difference between the curing energy and the irradiation energy applied for each of the first through nth passes of the paint dispensed in each selected region. The processor 110 then identifies the largest difference value among the calculated difference values. The processor 110 then determines the irradiation energy to be applied per unit area to the printed image in post-irradiation as (the determined difference value × (unit area / area of ​​the selected region)). Hereinafter, the determined irradiation energy per unit area is referred to as the post-irradiation energy. The curing energy of the first through nth passes of the paint dispensed in each selected region is determined based on the print data of the print image generated based on the image data 130a and the printing conditions 130b, and the characteristic information 130c. Furthermore, the energy irradiated onto the first to nth passes of the ejected paint in each selected region is determined based on the number of printing passes n, which is determined from the printing conditions 130b. Therefore, the processor 110 derives the post-irradiation energy based on the image data 130a, the printing conditions 130b, and the characteristic information 130c. This allows the processor 110 to derive the post-irradiation energy that can sufficiently cure areas of the printed image that are not sufficiently cured. The processor 110 can sufficiently cure the printed image by instructing the printing device 200 to irradiate the derived post-irradiation energy per unit area of ​​the printed image.

[0031] The print control unit 111c is a function that controls printing of the print image by instructing the printing device 200 to print the print image. Using the function of the print control unit 111c, the processor 110 transmits print data of the print image to the printing device 200 via the communication unit 120 and instructs the printing device 200 to print the print image on a printing medium.

[0032] The post-irradiation control unit 111d has a function of controlling post-irradiation of the printed image by instructing the printing device 200 to perform post-irradiation. The processor 110, using the function of the post-irradiation control unit 111d, determines at least one of the irradiation intensity and irradiation time of irradiation via the irradiation unit 242 in post-irradiation as the irradiation mode for realizing the irradiation of post-irradiation energy in post-irradiation. This allows the processor 110 to determine the irradiation mode that can realize the post-irradiation energy. In this embodiment, because the irradiation intensity of the irradiation unit 242 is constant, the processor 110 determines the irradiation time of irradiation via the irradiation unit 242 in post-irradiation. Details of this process are described below. In this embodiment, post-irradiation is performed as follows. That is, the print head 240 scans from one end of the main scanning direction to the other while irradiating the scanning area with ultraviolet light, and this is repeated while changing its position in the sub-scanning direction, thereby uniformly irradiating the entire print image with ultraviolet light. Here, the irradiation of one line of ultraviolet light performed by the print head 240 while moving from one end of the print area to the other in the main scanning direction on the print medium during post-irradiation is referred to as an irradiation pass. Furthermore, the number of times that ultraviolet light is irradiated onto the same area of ​​the printed print image during post-irradiation is referred to as the number of irradiation passes. In other words, the number of irradiation passes indicates the number of scans of the print head 240 performed on the same area of ​​the printed print image during post-irradiation. In this embodiment, one irradiation pass irradiates the same unit irradiation energy per unit area as in the case of a printing pass.

[0033] In this embodiment, the processor 110 determines the number of irradiation passes in post-irradiation, thereby determining the irradiation time of ultraviolet rays by the irradiation unit 242. More specifically, the processor 110 derives a value by dividing the derived post-irradiation energy by the unit irradiation energy. The processor 110 then rounds up the derived value to 1 to obtain the number of irradiation passes. In other words, the processor 110 determines the irradiation mode in post-irradiation as a mode in which ultraviolet rays are evenly irradiated onto the entire printed image with the derived number of irradiation passes. This allows the processor 110 to determine the number of irradiation passes that can achieve post-irradiation with the post-irradiation energy. Then, the processor 110 instructs the printing device 200 to perform post-irradiation in the determined irradiation mode via the communication unit 120. That is, the processor 110 instructs the printing device 200 to uniformly irradiate the entire printed image with ultraviolet light using the derived number of irradiation passes.

[0034] Next, the functions of the printing device 200 will be described. The processor 210 of the printing device 200 executes a print execution program 211 stored in the storage medium 230, thereby functioning as a print execution unit 211a and a post-irradiation execution unit 211b. The print execution unit 211a is a function that executes printing of a print image via the print head 240 in response to an instruction from the information processing device 100. The processor 210 executes printing of the print image onto a print medium via the print head 240 based on print data received from the information processing device 100 together with the print instruction, using the function of the print execution unit 211a.

[0035] The post-irradiation execution unit 211b is a function that executes post-irradiation on the print image printed by the function of the print execution unit 211a via the irradiation unit 242 in response to an instruction from the information processing device 100. The processor 210 executes post-irradiation on the print image printed on the print medium via the irradiation unit 242 in the irradiation mode instructed by the information processing device 100 using the function of the post-irradiation execution unit 211b. In this embodiment, the processor 210 executes post-irradiation by irradiating with ultraviolet light for the number of irradiation passes notified by the information processing device 100.

[0036] As described above, with the configuration of this embodiment, the information processing device 100 determines whether post-irradiation is required after printing a print image with n printing passes, based on the characteristic information 130c, printing conditions 130b, and image data 130a. More specifically, the information processing device 100 derives the curing energy of the paint dispensed onto an area in the printed image and the irradiation energy irradiated onto the paint, and if the derived curing energy is greater than the derived irradiation energy, it determines that the paint has not sufficiently cured and that post-irradiation is required. This allows the information processing device 100 to determine whether post-irradiation is required more accurately than if the operator visually determined whether post-irradiation is required.

[0037] (2) Printing control process: The print control process executed by the information processing device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. The processor 110 of the information processing device 100 starts the process of FIG. 4 at the timing when an instruction to start the print control process is received.

[0038] In step S100, processor 110 uses the function of acquisition unit 111a to acquire image data 130a, printing conditions 130b, and characteristic information 130c from storage medium 130. The process of step S100 is an example of an acquisition step. After completing the process of step S100, processor 110 proceeds to step S105. In step S105, processor 110, using the function of determination unit 111b, acquires from characteristic information 130c the unit curing energy of each type of paint used by printing device 200. After completing the processing of step S105, processor 110 proceeds to the processing of step S110.

[0039] In step S110, processor 110 generates print data for the print image based on image data 130a and printing conditions 130b using the function of determination unit 111b. After completing the process of step S110, processor 110 proceeds to step S115. In step S115, the processor 110 executes a post-irradiation determination process using the function of the determination unit 111b to determine whether post-irradiation is required after printing the print image. The process of step S115 is an example of a determination step.

[0040] Here, the post-irradiation determination process in step S115 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In step S200, the processor 110, using the function of the determination unit 111b, generates a post-irradiation flag that is flag information indicating whether post-irradiation is necessary, an index k that indicates the number of times the loop processing is being executed, and an energy variable that stores the value of the energy with which an area of ​​the same size as the selected area is irradiated in post-irradiation, and stores these in RAM. The processor 110 sets the initial values ​​of the post-irradiation flag, index k, and energy variable to off, 1, and 0, respectively. After completing the processing of step S200, the processor 110 proceeds to step S205.

[0041] In step S205, processor 110 uses the function of determination unit 111b to select an unselected area of ​​a predetermined size as a selected area from the print area where the print image will be printed. Here, the area selected as the selected area may be an area that partially overlaps with an already selected area, or an area that does not partially overlap with an already selected area. In step S210, processor 110, using the function of determination unit 111b, acquires the type and amount of paint contained in the paint ejected in the kth (index k)th pass in the selected area selected in the previous step S205, based on the print data generated in step S110. Then, processor 110 derives the curing energy of the paint ejected in the kth pass in the selected area selected in the previous step S205, based on the unit curing energies of the various paints acquired in step S105 and the acquired type and amount of paint. After completing the processing of step S210, processor 110 proceeds to step S215.

[0042] In step S215, the processor 110, using the function of the judgment unit 111b, derives the irradiation energy to be irradiated to the kth pass of ejected paint in the selected area selected in the immediately preceding step S205 as (n-k+1) x (unit irradiation energy x (area of ​​selected area / unit area)). Then, the processor 110 determines whether the curing energy derived in the immediately preceding step S210 is greater than the derived irradiation energy. If the processor 110 determines that the curing energy derived in the immediately preceding step S210 is greater than the derived irradiation energy, it determines that post-irradiation is required and proceeds to step S220. If the processor 110 determines that the curing energy derived in the immediately preceding step S210 is equal to or less than the derived irradiation energy, it proceeds to step S235.

[0043] In step S220, the processor 110 turns on the post-irradiation flag by using the function of the determination unit 111b. After completing the process of step S220, the processor 110 advances the process to step S225. In step S225, the processor 110, using the function of the judgment unit 111b, derives a difference value by subtracting the irradiation energy irradiated to the kth pass of the paint ejected from the selected area selected in the immediately preceding step S205 ((n-k+1) x (unit irradiation energy x (area of ​​selected area / unit area))) to be applied to this kth pass of the paint ejected. Then, the processor 110 determines whether the derived difference value is greater than the value of the energy variable. If the processor 110 determines that the derived difference value is greater than the value of the energy variable, it proceeds to step S230. If the processor 110 determines that the derived difference value is less than or equal to the value of the energy variable, it proceeds to step S235.

[0044] In step S230, processor 110 uses the function of determination unit 111b to update the value of the energy variable to the difference value derived in the immediately preceding step S225. After completing the process of step S230, processor 110 proceeds to the process of step S235. In step S235, processor 110 determines, using the function of determination unit 111b, whether the value of index k is less than the number of printing passes n. If processor 110 determines that the value of index k is less than the number of printing passes n, it proceeds to step S240. If processor 110 determines that the value of index k is equal to or greater than the number of printing passes n, it proceeds to step S245.

[0045] In step S240, processor 110, by the function of determination unit 111b, increments the value of index k by 1. After completing the process of step S240, processor 110 advances the process to step S210. In step S245, processor 110, by the function of determination unit 111b, initializes the value of index k to 1. After completing the process of step S245, processor 110 advances the process to step S250.

[0046] In step S250, processor 110 determines, using the function of determination unit 111b, whether all areas selectable as selection areas have been selected as selection areas from the printing area where the print image will be printed. If processor 110 determines that all areas selectable as selection areas from the printing area where the print image will be printed have been selected as selection areas, it completes the processing of Fig. 5 and proceeds to step S120 of Fig. 4. If processor 110 determines that there is an area from the printing area where the print image will be printed that has not been selected as a selection area, it proceeds to step S205. 5, the processor 110 determines whether post-irradiation is necessary and stores the determination result in a post-irradiation flag. The processor 110 also derives the energy required for irradiating an area of ​​the same size as the selected area in post-irradiation, and stores the derived energy in an energy variable.

[0047] Returning to the explanation of Figure 4. In step S120, processor 110, using the function of print control unit 111c, sends the print data generated in step S110 to printing device 200 via communication unit 120 and instructs printing device 200 to print the print image. After completing the processing of step S120, processor 110 proceeds to the processing of step S125. In step S125, the processor 110 determines whether post-irradiation is required by determining whether the post-irradiation flag is on using the function of the determination unit 111b. If the processor 110 determines that the post-irradiation flag is on, it determines that post-irradiation is required and proceeds to step S130. If the processor 110 determines that the post-irradiation flag is not on, it determines that post-irradiation is not required and completes the processing of FIG. 4.

[0048] In step S130, the processor 110, using the function of the post-irradiation control unit 111d, derives the post-irradiation energy, which is the energy irradiated per unit area in post-irradiation, as (value of energy variable × (unit area / area of ​​selected region)). Then, the processor 110 derives the number of irradiation passes in post-irradiation by rounding up the decimal point of the value obtained by dividing the derived post-irradiation energy by the unit irradiation energy. The processor 110 determines the irradiation mode in post-irradiation as a mode in which ultraviolet rays are evenly irradiated onto the entire printed image using the derived number of irradiation passes.

[0049] In step S135, the processor 110 instructs the printing device 200, via the communication unit 120, by the function of the post-irradiation control unit 111d, to perform post-irradiation in the irradiation mode determined in step S130.

[0050] Next, the processing performed by the printing device 200 in response to an instruction from the information processing device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. When the processor 210 of the printing device 200 receives the print instruction sent from the information processing device 100 in step S120, it starts the processing of Fig. 6. In step S300, processor 210, using the function of print execution unit 211a, executes printing of a print image onto a print medium via print head 240 based on print data received together with a print instruction from information processing device 100. After completing the process of step S300, processor 210 proceeds to step S305.

[0051] In step S305, the processor 210 determines, by the function of the post-irradiation execution unit 211b, whether or not an instruction for post-irradiation has been received from the information processing device 100. If the processor 210 determines that an instruction for post-irradiation has been received from the information processing device 100, the processor 210 proceeds to step S310. If the processor 210 determines that an instruction for post-irradiation has not been received from the information processing device 100, the processor 210 completes the processing of FIG. 6. In step S310, the processor 210, using the function of the post-irradiation execution unit 211b, executes post-irradiation of the print image printed on the print medium in the processing of step S300 in the irradiation mode instructed by the information processing device 100. In this embodiment, the processor 210 executes post-irradiation by uniformly irradiating the entire print image with ultraviolet light using the number of irradiation passes notified by the information processing device 100.

[0052] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiment is one example for carrying out the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the information processing device 100 and the printing device 200 are configured as different devices, but they may also be configured as the same device. For example, the functions of the information processing device 100 may be implemented in the printing device 200. Furthermore, the information processing device 100 may be configured as multiple devices. Furthermore, the processing order of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 may be changed. For example, the processing order of steps S100 and S105 may be reversed.

[0053] In the above-described embodiment, the characteristic information 130c is information indicating the unit curing energy of each type of paint. However, the characteristic information 130c may be other information indicating the ease with which each type of paint cures when irradiated with ultraviolet light. For example, the characteristic information 130c for colorants may be information on the color and components of each type of colorant. The color of a colorant determines the ease with which that colorant absorbs ultraviolet light (the percentage of the irradiated energy that the colorant absorbs). Furthermore, once the components that contribute to the curing of the colorant are known, the energy required for curing can be determined. Therefore, the processor 110 may calculate the unit curing energy of each type of colorant based on the color and components of the colorant. Furthermore, the characteristic information 130c may be rank information on the ease with which each type of paint cures when irradiated with a certain amount of ultraviolet light. In this case, for example, each rank may be associated with a unit curing energy in advance, and the processor 110 may acquire the unit curing energy corresponding to each rank indicated by the characteristic information 130c as the unit curing energy of the corresponding paint.

[0054] In the above embodiment, the processor 110 acquires the image data 130a, printing conditions 130b, and characteristic information 130c from the storage medium 130 using the function of the acquisition unit 111a. However, the processor 110 may acquire at least some of the image data 130a, printing conditions 130b, and characteristic information 130c using other methods. For example, the processor 110 may acquire this information by receiving input of the information from the user via the UI unit 140.

[0055] In the above-described embodiment, the irradiation intensity of ultraviolet light emitted by the irradiation unit 242 is constant. However, the irradiation intensity of ultraviolet light emitted by the irradiation unit 242 may be adjustable. In this case, the processor 110 may determine the intensity of the irradiation unit 242 during post-irradiation when determining the irradiation mode for post-irradiation using the function of the post-irradiation control unit 111d. For example, if the number of irradiation passes in post-irradiation, i.e., the irradiation time of ultraviolet light on the same region, is constant, the processor 110 may do the following: In step S130, the processor 110 derives the energy irradiated per unit area in one irradiation pass as (value of energy variable × (unit area / area of ​​selected region)) / number of irradiation passes. Then, the processor 110 may determine the irradiation intensity of the irradiation unit 242 so that the derived energy can be irradiated in one scanning irradiation pass. In this case, the processor 110 instructs the printing apparatus 200 to perform post-irradiation at the determined irradiation intensity of the irradiation unit 242. Furthermore, the processor 110 may determine both the irradiation intensity and irradiation time of the irradiating unit 242 as the irradiation mode in post-irradiation.

[0056] In the above-described embodiment, the processor 110 determines that post-irradiation is required when the curing energy of the paint dispensed in the kth pass of the selected region is greater than the irradiated energy. The processor 110 may further store the position of the selected region where the curing energy of the paint dispensed in the kth pass is greater than the irradiated energy as a position where the paint is not sufficiently cured. For example, in step S220, the processor 110 may further store in the storage medium 130 the position within the printed image of the selected region selected in the immediately preceding step S205 as a position where the paint is not sufficiently cured. In this case, the processor 110 may determine, for example, in step S130, not the entire printed image, but a partial region including the position where the paint is not sufficiently cured, stored in the storage medium 130, as the target region for ultraviolet irradiation in post-irradiation. For example, the processor 110 may determine the region where the paint is not sufficiently cured as the target region for ultraviolet irradiation in post-irradiation. Furthermore, if the area that can be scanned in one scan from end to end in the main scanning direction of the print head 240 is defined as the scanning area, the processor 110 may determine the scanning area, including areas where the paint is not sufficiently cured, as the target area for ultraviolet light irradiation in post-irradiation. The processor 110 may then determine the irradiation mode for irradiating the determined target area with ultraviolet light as the ultraviolet light irradiation mode in post-irradiation. This allows the processor 110 to reduce the cost of ultraviolet light irradiation.

[0057] In the above-described embodiment, the size of the selection area is one pixel. However, the size of the selection area may be other sizes. For example, the size of the selection area may be a predetermined width in the main scanning direction and an area with a width in the sub-scanning direction that can be scanned in one scan of the print head 240 in the sub-scanning direction. The size of the selection area may also be 10 pixels x 10 pixels, 100 pixels x 100 pixels, etc.

[0058] Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied as a program or method executed by a computer. The above-described systems, programs, and methods may be realized as a single device or may be realized using components included in multiple devices, and include various other aspects. For example, they can be partially software and partially hardware, and other modifications can be made as appropriate. Furthermore, the invention can also be realized as a recording medium for a program that controls an information processing device. Of course, the recording medium for the program may be a magnetic recording medium or a semiconductor memory, and any recording medium developed in the future can be considered in the same way. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 100...information processing device, 110...processor, 111...printing control program, 111a...acquisition unit, 111b...determination unit, 111c...printing control unit, 111d...post-irradiation control unit, 120...communication unit, 130...storage medium, 130a...image data, 130b...printing conditions, 130c...characteristic information, 140...UI unit, 200...printing device, 210...processor, 211...printing execution program, 211a...printing execution unit, 211b...post-irradiation execution unit, 220...communication unit, 230...storage medium

Claims

1. An information processing device for controlling a printing device including a discharge unit that discharges a coating material that hardens under ultraviolet light, and an irradiation unit that irradiates the coating material discharged onto a printing medium with ultraviolet light, an acquisition unit that acquires the paint characteristic information, printing conditions for printing by the printing device, and image data indicating an image to be printed by the printing device; a determination unit that determines whether or not post-irradiation, which is additional irradiation of ultraviolet rays, is required after printing of the image involving irradiation of ultraviolet rays by the irradiation unit, based on the characteristic information, the printing conditions, and the image data; wherein the printing conditions include at least one of a number of printing passes when printing the image data and an image resolution when printing the image data.

2. the ejection unit and the irradiation unit are provided on a print head, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the discharge of the paint from the discharge unit and the irradiation of the radiation from the radiation unit are performed during scanning of the print head.

3. 3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein when the determination unit determines that post-irradiation is required, the determination unit further determines the energy of ultraviolet light to be irradiated onto the image printed on the printing medium by the post-irradiation to be performed based on the characteristic information, the printing conditions, and the image data.

4. 4. The information processing device according to claim 3, further comprising a post-irradiation control unit that controls the printing device to adjust at least one of an irradiation intensity and an irradiation time by the irradiation unit in the post-irradiation so as to realize irradiation of the energy onto the image printed on the printing medium.

5. 5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the post-irradiation control unit controls the printing device to adjust the irradiation time by adjusting the number of scans by a print head equipped with the irradiation unit so as to irradiate the image printed on the printing medium with the energy.

6. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the number of printing passes and the image resolution is determined by a designated value of the image quality of the image formed on the printing medium by printing the image data.

7. An information processing method executed by an information processing device that controls a printing device including a discharge unit that discharges a coating material that hardens under ultraviolet light and an irradiation unit that irradiates the coating material discharged onto a printing medium with ultraviolet light, an acquisition step of acquiring the characteristic information of the paint, the printing conditions for printing by the printing device, and image data showing the image to be printed by the printing device; a determination step of determining whether or not post-irradiation, which is additional irradiation of ultraviolet rays, is required after printing of the image involving irradiation of ultraviolet rays by the irradiation unit, based on the characteristic information, the printing conditions, and the image data; Including, The information processing method, wherein the printing conditions include at least one of the number of printing passes when printing the image data and the image resolution when printing the image data.

8. A computer that controls a printing device including a discharge unit that discharges a coating material that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light and an irradiation unit that irradiates the coating material discharged onto a printing medium with ultraviolet light, an acquisition step of acquiring the characteristic information of the paint, the printing conditions for printing by the printing device, and image data showing the image to be printed by the printing device; a determination step of determining whether or not post-irradiation, which is additional irradiation of ultraviolet rays, is required after printing of the image involving irradiation of ultraviolet rays by the irradiation unit, based on the characteristic information, the printing conditions, and the image data; Execute The printing conditions include at least one of the number of printing passes when printing the image data and the image resolution when printing the image data.

Images