Print controller and printer

• US 20050195423A1
• Filed: 02/25/2005
• Published: 09/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co Limited (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Sawano, Tetsuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,483,157 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00188 Printing, e.g. prints or reprints H04N1/0019, H04N1/00196 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00196 Creation of a photo-montage, e.g. photoalbum H04N1/0019 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00846 based on detection of a dedicated indication, e.g. marks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00925 Inhibiting an operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32128 attached to the image data, e.g. file header, transmitted message header, information on the same page or in the same computer file as the image for information embedded in the image H04N1/32144
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3226 of identification information or the like, e.g. ID code, index, title, part of an image, reduced-size image
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A portable printer contains a print controller that acquires first ID of a first character printed in advance on an instant film from a wireless tag embedded in the instant film; acquires second ID of a second character contained in image data to be printed on the instant film from a header of the image data. The print controller makes a judgment based on a print permission table and the IDs of the first and second characters as to whether an image based on the image data is permitted to be printed together on the instant film. The print controller then performs an output based on a result of the judgment. The print permission table is stored in a storage portion and indicates whether the first character and the second character are allowed to be printed on a common instant film.

Claims

1. A print controller comprising:

a first identification information-acquiring unit that acquires first identification information to identify a first character printed on a printing medium;

a second identification information-acquiring unit that acquires second identification information to identify a second character, wherein the second identification information comprises data of an image that is a requested print subject on the printing medium;

a print permission judgment unit that makes a judgment whether the image is permitted to be printed on the printing medium, wherein the judgment is based on the first identification information, the second identification information and a print permission information that indicates whether the first character and the second character are permitted to be printed on a common printing medium; and

an output unit that performs an output based on the judgment.

2. The print controller according to claim 1, wherein the first identification information is stored in a storage medium integrated with the printing medium.

3. The print controller according to claim 2, wherein the storage medium comprises a wireless tag.

4. A printer for printing an image based on an image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, the printer comprising:

a print controller comprising;

a first identification information-acquiring unit that acquires first identification information to identify a first character printed on a printing medium;

a second identification information-acquiring unit that acquires second identification information to identify a second character, wherein the second identification information is included in the image data of the image that is a requested print subject on the printing medium;

a print permission judgment unit that makes a judgment whether the image based on the image data is permitted to be printed on the printing medium, wherein the judgment is based on the first identification information, the second identification information and a print permission information that indicates whether the first character and the second character are permitted to be printed on a common printing medium; and

an output unit that performs an output based on the judgment; and

a storage unit in which the print permission information is stored.

5. The printer according to claim 4, wherein the first identification information is stored in a storage medium integrated with the printing medium.

6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein the storage medium comprises a wireless tag.

7. A printer for printing an image based on an image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, the printer comprising:

a print controller comprising;

a first identification information-acquiring unit that acquires first identification information to identify a first character printed on a printing medium;

a second identification information-acquiring unit that acquires second identification information to identify a second character, wherein the second identification information is included in the image data of the image that is a requested print subject on the printing medium;

a print permission judgment unit that makes a judgment whether the image is permitted to be printed on the printing medium, wherein the judgment is based on the first identification information, the second identification information and a print permission information that indicates whether the first character and the second character are permitted to be printed on a common printing medium; and

an output unit that performs an output based on the judgment; and

a print permission information-acquiring unit that acquires the print permission information, wherein the print permission information is stored in a storage medium integrated with the printing medium.

8. The printer according to claim 7, wherein the first identification information is stored in a storage medium integrated with the printing medium.

9. The printer according to claim 8, wherein the storage medium comprises a wireless tag.

10. A printer for printing an image based on an image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, the printer comprising:

a print controller comprising;

a first identification information-acquiring unit that acquires first identification information to identify a first character printed on a printing medium;

a second identification information-acquiring unit that acquires second identification information to identify a second character, wherein the second identification information is included in the image data of the image that is a requested print subject on the printing medium;

a print permission judgment unit that makes a judgment whether the image is permitted to be printed on the printing medium, wherein the judgment is based on the first identification information, the second identification information and a print permission information that indicates whether the first character and the second character are permitted to be printed on a common printing medium; and

an output unit that performs an output based on the judgment; and

a print permission information-receiving unit that receives the print permission information from the portable terminal apparatus.

11. The printer according to claim 10, wherein the first identification information is stored in a storage medium integrated with the printing medium.

12. The printer according to claim 11, wherein the storage medium comprises a wireless tag.

13. A print controller comprising:

means for acquiring first identification information to identify a first character that is printed on a printing medium;

means for acquiring second identification information to identify a second character, wherein the second identification information comprises data of an image that is a requested print subject on the printing medium;

means for making a judgment whether the image is permitted to be printed on the printing medium, wherein the judgment is based on the first identification information, the second identification information and a print permission information that indicates whether the first character and the second character are permitted to be printed on a common printing medium; and

means for performing an output based on the judgment.

14. A method for controlling a printer, comprising:

acquiring first identification information to identify a first character that is printed on a printing medium;

acquiring second identification information to identify a second character, wherein the second identification information comprises data of an image that is a requested print subject on the printing medium;

making a judgment whether the image is permitted to be printed on the printing medium, wherein the judgment is based on the first identification information, the second identification information and a print permission information that indicates whether the first character and the second character are permitted to be printed together on the printing medium; and

performing an output based on the judgment.