IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20170041479A1
• Filed: 08/03/2016
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: KUBO, Hideki, FUKAMACHI, Hitoshi
• Granted Patent: US 10,397,427 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 64/386 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 30/00 Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/01 Ink jet
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/201 in the form of arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/49023 3-D printing, layer of powder, add drops of binder in layer, new powder
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00827 Arrangements for reading an image from an unusual original, e.g. 3-dimensional objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32203 Spatial or amplitude domain methods H04N1/32309 takes precedence

Abstract

The image processing apparatus in the present invention is an image processing apparatus that supplies roughness shape data to an image forming apparatus that forms a roughness shape based on a roughness shape of an object to be reproduced. The image processing apparatus includes: an input reception unit configured to receive an input of information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced; an acquisition unit configured to acquire output characteristics relating to a roughness shape that the image forming apparatus can output; and a generation unit configured to generate roughness shape data that is supplied to the image forming apparatus based on the information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the output characteristics.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus that supplies roughness shape data to an image forming apparatus that forms a roughness shape based on a roughness shape of an object to be reproduced, the image processing apparatus comprising:

an input reception unit configured to receive an input of information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire output characteristics relating to a roughness shape that the image forming apparatus can output; and

a generation unit configured to generate the roughness shape data that is supplied to the image forming apparatus based on the information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the output characteristics.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the generation unit generates the roughness shape data so as to maintain at least one of a difference of elevation, a height, and sharpness of a convex portion of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the generation unit further comprises a determination unit configured to determine whether or not to correct the information representing the roughness shape based on the information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the output characteristics, and

in a case where the determination unit determines that the information should be corrected, the generation unit generates the roughness shape data based on the results of correcting the roughness shape specified by the information representing the roughness shape.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a correction unit configured to correct image data representing an image layer that is formed on the roughness shape in accordance with the appearance of a roughness shape that the image forming apparatus outputs based on the roughness shape data.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the generation unit further comprises a calculation unit configured to acquire a height distribution of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and to calculate a height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and a spatial frequency of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced from the height distribution,

the determination unit determines whether the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the spatial frequency of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced satisfy an output possible condition indicated by the output characteristics, and

in a case where the output possible condition is not satisfied, the generation unit generates the roughness shape data by correcting the received information representing the roughness shape based on the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the spatial frequency of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the acquisition unit acquires an amplitude upper limit, which is an upper limit of an amplitude at which the image forming apparatus can output the roughness shape with a high reproducibility, and a frequency upper limit, which is an upper limit of a frequency at which the image forming apparatus can output the roughness shape with a high reproducibility, as the output characteristics, and

the determination unit determines whether the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced is less than or equal to the amplitude upper limit and whether the spatial frequency of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced is less than or equal to the frequency upper limit.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the generation unit subtracts a height minimum value in the height distribution from the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced in a case where the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced is higher than the amplitude upper limit.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein

the generation unit performs a convolution operation of the height distribution with a filter having low-frequency characteristics in a case where the spatial frequency of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced is higher than the frequency upper limit and restores the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced, which has been reduced by the convolution operation.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the acquisition unit further acquires an output possible range in which the image forming apparatus can output the roughness shape with a high reproducibility, and

the generation unit generates the roughness shape data so that the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced after the correction and the spatial frequency of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced after the correction fall within the output possible range.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the received information representing the roughness shape is data representing the height of the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced for each pixel, and the image processing apparatus further comprises:

a division unit configured to divide the information representing the roughness shape into a plurality of areas;

an analysis unit configured to analyze the information representing the roughness shape of each divided area;

a calculation unit configured to calculate a weight coefficient of each of the divided areas based on the analysis results; and

an adjustment unit configured to adjust a deviation in the roughness shape in each of the divided areas from the roughness shape data of each of the divided areas generated by the generation unit and the calculated weight coefficient.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the correction unit comprises:

a second acquisition unit configured to acquire an ideal roughness shape specified by the received information representing the roughness shape and a predicted roughness shape in a case where the received information representing the roughness shape is output in the image forming apparatus;

an observation condition setting unit configured to set observation conditions of the ideal roughness shape and the predicted roughness shape; and

a correction coefficient calculation unit configured to calculate the appearance of the ideal roughness shape and the appearance of the predicted roughness shape under the observation conditions and to calculate a correction coefficient for image data from the appearance of the ideal roughness shape and the appearance of the predicted roughness shape, and

the correction unit corrects the image data based on the calculated correction coefficient.

12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein

the observation conditions include the direction of illumination light that is illuminated to the roughness shape from a light source, and

the correction coefficient calculation unit finds an illuminance distribution of the ideal roughness shape from the direction of the illumination light that is illuminated to the ideal roughness shape and an illuminance distribution of the predicted roughness shape from the direction of the illumination light that is illuminated to the predicted roughness shape, respectively, and calculates the appearance of the ideal roughness shape from the illuminance distribution of the ideal roughness shape and the appearance of the predicted roughness shape from the illuminance distribution of the predicted roughness shape.

13. An image forming apparatus that:

forms a roughness shape based on a roughness shape of an object to be reproduced;

receives generated roughness shape data from an image processing apparatus comprising;

an input reception unit configured to receive an input of information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire output characteristics relating to a roughness shape that the image forming apparatus can output; and

a generation unit configured to generate the roughness shape data representing the roughness shape based on the information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the output characteristics; and

forms the roughness shape based on the roughness shape data which has been received.

14. An image processing method of supplying roughness shape data to an image forming apparatus that forms a roughness shape based on a roughness shape of an object to be reproduced, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an input of information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced;

acquiring output characteristics relating to a roughness shape that the image forming apparatus can output; and

generating the roughness shape data that is supplied to the image forming apparatus based on the information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the output characteristics.

15. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as an image processing apparatus that supplies roughness shape data to an image forming apparatus that forms a roughness shape based on a roughness shape of an object to be reproduced, wherein

the image processing apparatus comprises:

an input reception unit configured to receive an input of information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire output characteristics relating to a roughness shape that the image forming apparatus can output; and

a generation unit configured to generate the roughness shape data that is supplied to the image forming apparatus based on the information representing the roughness shape of the object to be reproduced and the output characteristics.