CONTROL DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRINTING OBJECT IMAGE AND ADDITIONAL IMAGE

• US 20170282591A1
• Filed: 03/27/2017
• Published: 10/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: OZAWA, Ryohei
• Granted Patent: US 10,611,172 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/007 Conveyor belts or like feeding devices
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 11/008 Controlling printhead for accurately positioning print image on printing material, e.g. with the intention to control the width of margins
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 13/08 Conveyor bands or like feeding devices
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/04501 Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 2/2132 Print quality control characterised by dot disposition, e.g. for reducing white stripes or banding methods for local corrections by dot omission, image edge enhancement, or multi-pass mask selection G06K15/102; colour conversion H04N1/40
• CPC Class Codes: B41J 29/38 Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism

Abstract

A control device is for controlling a printer. The printer is configured to print by alternatively performing partial printing and sheet conveying. The printer includes a conveyer and a print head. The control device performs: acquiring an object image data representing an object image and additional image data representing an additional image added to the object image, where the additional image has a first length in an area; determining a position of the object image and a position of the additional image in the arrangement area such that the first length of the additional image at the position is minimized, where the first length is greater than or equal to zero.

Claims

1. A control device for controlling a printer,

wherein the printer is configured to print a print image by alternatively performing partial printing and sheet conveying plural times, and comprises a conveyer configured to convey a sheet in a first direction in the sheet conveying and a print head having a plurality of nozzles each configured to eject a droplet of ink onto the sheet, the print head configured to print a part of the print image in the partial printing,

the control device comprising:

a processor including hardware, and

a memory storing computer-readable instructions therein, the computer-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the control device to perform;

acquiring an object image data representing an object image and additional image data representing an additional image added to the object image;

determining a first position of the object image and a second position of the additional image in an arrangement area including a first area and a second area positioned at positions different from each other in the first direction, the second area being a band-like area extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, the first area being an area where the sheet conveying including a first conveying is performed at least once when an image in the first area is printed, the second area being an area where the sheet conveying including a second conveying different from the first conveying is performed at least once when an image in the second area is printed, and printing an image in the second area taking time longer than that in the first area because of difference of the sheet conveying between in the first area and in the second area, wherein the second position of the additional image is determined such that the additional image has a first length in the first direction within the second area and the first length is minimized, where the first length is greater than or equal to zero;

generating arrangement image data representing an arrangement image including the object image and the additional image by arranging the object image and the additional image respectively at the first position and the second position that are determined in the determining; and

supplying, to the printer, print image data generated by using the arrangement image data.

2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein, in the determining, the second position is determined such that the additional image is positioned within the first area and outside the second area.

3. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the sheet is conveyed for a first distance in the first conveying and conveyed for a second distance less than the first distance in the second conveying.

4. The control device according to claim 1, wherein, in the determining, the control device determines the second position such that the additional image has at least a portion in a margin area of the arrangement area, the margin area being positioned outside the object image.

5. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to further perform controlling a user interface screen to acquire an instruction from a user as to the additional image;

and

wherein, in the determining, the control device determines the second position in response to the acquisition of the instruction.

6. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the instruction includes designating the second position;

wherein, in the controlling, the control device displays the second area and at least a part of the first area in mutually different forms in the user interface screen.

7. The control device according to claim 6, wherein the first area includes a first partial area and a second partial area having a second length in the first direction less than that of the first partial area;

and

wherein, in the controlling, the control device;

determines an entire length in the first direction of the additional image;

displays the first partial area and the second partial area in a form different from that of the second area in the user interface screen, when the first length is less than a threshold; and

displays the first partial area in a form different from that of the second area in the user interface screen and displays the second partial area in a form same as that of the second area in the user interface screen, when the first length is greater than or equal to the threshold.

8. The control device according to claim 5, wherein the instruction includes an arrangement instruction designating the second position;

and

wherein, in the controlling, the control device displays information about printing time in response to the acquisition of the arrangement instruction instructing to arrange the additional image in the second area.

9. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to further perform setting a reference size and a reference position in the arrangement area of the additional image;

and

wherein, by performing one of reducing the reference size and displacing the reference position in the determining, the control device determines the second position such that the first length of the additional image at the second position is minimized, where the first length is within the range greater than or equal to zero.

10. The control device according to claim 9, wherein, in the setting, the control device sets one of the reference size and the reference position in accordance with an instruction acquired from a user.

11. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to further perform determining the first area and the second area based on a size of the sheet.

12. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the conveyer includes an upstream supporting part positioned upstream of the print head in the first direction and a downstream supporting part positioned downstream of the print head in the first direction, the upstream supporting part and the downstream supporting part those configured to support the sheet;

and

wherein the second conveying includes;

conveying the sheet from a state where the sheet is supported by the upstream supporting part to a state where the sheet is unsupported by the upstream supporting part, and

conveying the sheet from a state where the sheet is unsupported by the downstream supporting part to a state where the sheet is supported by the downstream supporting part.

13. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the second area is configured to include an end portion along an end of the sheet in the first direction, the end portion having a predetermined length in the first direction and.

14. The control device according to claim 13, wherein the control device is configured to print in a first printing mode in which an image in the end portion is printed and in a second printing mode in which an image in the end portion is excluded from printing, the end portion being included in the second area in the first printing mode, the end portion being excluded from the second area in the second printing mode.

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a set of program instructions installed on and executed by a computer for controlling a printer,

wherein the printer is configured to print a print image by alternatively performing partial printing and sheet conveying plural times, and comprises a conveyer configured to convey a sheet in a first direction in the sheet conveying and a print head having a plurality of nozzles each configured to eject a droplet of ink onto the sheet, the print head configured to print a part of the print image in the partial printing,

the program instructions comprising:

acquiring an object image data representing an object image and additional image data representing an additional image added to the object image;

determining a first position of the object image and a second position of the additional image in an arrangement area including a first area and a second area positioned at positions different from each other in the first direction, the second area being a band-like area extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, the first area being an area where the sheet conveying including a first conveying is performed at least once when an image in the first area is printed, the second area being an area where the sheet conveying including a second conveying different from the first conveying is performed at least once when an image in the second area is printed, and printing an image in the second area taking time longer than that in the first area because of difference of the sheet conveying between in the first area and in the second area, wherein the second position of the additional image is determined such that the additional image has a first length in the first direction within the second area and the first length is minimized, where the first length is greater than or equal to zero;

generating arrangement image data representing an arrangement image including the object image and the additional image by arranging the object image and the additional image respectively at the first position and the second position that are determined in the determining; and

supplying, to the printer, print image data generated by using the arrangement image data.

16. A method for controlling a printer,

wherein the printer is configured to print a print image by alternatively performing partial printing and sheet conveying plural times, and comprises a conveyer configured to convey a sheet in a first direction in the sheet conveying and a print head having a plurality of nozzles each configured to eject a droplet of ink onto the sheet, the print head configured to print a part of the print image in the partial printing,

the method comprising:

acquiring an object image data representing an object image and additional image data representing an additional image added to the object image;

determining a first position of the object image and a second position of the additional image in an arrangement area including a first area and a second area positioned at positions different from each other in the first direction, the second area being a band-like area extending in a second direction crossing the first direction, the first area being an area where the sheet conveying including a first conveying is performed at least once when an image in the first area is printed, the second area being an area where the sheet conveying including a second conveying different from the first conveying is performed at least once when an image in the second area is printed, and printing an image in the second area taking time longer than that in the first area because of difference of the sheet conveying between in the first area and in the second area, wherein the second position of the additional image is determined such that the additional image has a first length in the first direction within the second area and the first length is minimized, where the first length is greater than or equal to zero;

generating arrangement image data representing an arrangement image including the object image and the additional image by arranging the object image and the additional image respectively at the first position and the second position that are determined in the determining; and

supplying, to the printer, print image data generated by using the arrangement image data.