JP5962315B2 - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, system, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that provides a spotlight control command to an apparatus that draws an object on a medium by scanning spotlight.

  A heat-sensitive recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a heat-sensitive recording medium) may be used for a label for printing the address of an article or the name of the article. The heat-sensitive recording medium has a property of coloring depending on the temperature. For example, a plastic container used in a distribution center is affixed with a label that describes the destination (delivery destination) of the article in the container and the name of the article. By using a thermal recording medium for this label, characters and symbols can be written using a thermal head or the like.

  Some heat-sensitive recording media can be rewritable so that the colored portion can be erased by controlling the temperature of the thermal head to an appropriate value.

  When the rewritable heat-sensitive recording medium is attached to the container as described above, the work efficiency can be improved if the user can perform the coloring operation and the erasing operation while attached to the container. Therefore, a method has been proposed in which characters and the like are drawn by irradiating the label with laser light in a non-contact manner to generate heat (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 describes a relay lens system that transmits an image by laser light incident from one end of a plurality of lens systems configured by a flexible joint to the other end.

  By the way, there are cases where a diagram or an image code (bar code, two-dimensional code) is formed on a label employing a heat-sensitive recording medium, in addition to objects that humans can read such as characters and numerical values. Since the image code can be converted into read data by the scanner, the computer on the system side can easily accept input of information. However, it is known that if the shape of the image code is not formed accurately, the reading performance by the scanner is degraded. In particular, when color is developed with laser light as described above, the shape and density of the image code formed by color development affect the reading performance.

  FIG. 20A is an example of a diagram schematically showing the locus of the center of the laser and the spot light (beam diameter). In the heat-sensitive recording medium, almost the same region as the region through which the spot light has passed is colored.

  FIG. 20B shows an example of a two-dimensional code, and FIG. 20B shows an enlarged schematic diagram of the two-dimensional code. The two-dimensional code has a plurality of rectangular areas, and each of the rectangular areas is called a cell. In order to color the cells, the laser writing control device may scan the spot light in the longitudinal direction of each cell. However, the entire cell may not be sufficiently colored by one scan. If the entire cell does not develop color, the readability is degraded. For this reason, when forming a two-dimensional code, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 20C, the writing control apparatus scans one cell with the spot light while shifting the position twice.

  However, overwriting with spot light imposes a thermal load on the thermal recording medium, which may make it impossible to achieve the durability performance target.

  In order to suppress a decrease in durability, it is effective to fill cells with an appropriate laser power and overlapping degree. Therefore, if the cell size (the length in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is one side if the cell is a square. Hereinafter, it may be referred to as a width) is experimental. An appropriate laser power and overlapping degree can be determined.

  Here, in one two-dimensional code, the larger the number of cells, the larger the amount of information that can be recorded. The amount of information desired to be stored in the two-dimensional code differs on the user side such as a distribution center. In addition, since the amount of information that the same user wants to store in the two-dimensional code can vary depending on the situation, there is a demand for adjusting the number of cells as necessary. For example, in the QR code (registered trademark; hereinafter omitted), the number of cells included in one QR code is defined for each version of 1 to 40 (the cell size is not defined). For this reason, in the QR code, the size of one QR code is changed according to the version (amount of information to be stored) and the size of the cell.

  Since the cell size is not specified, it is possible to increase the number of cells without changing the QR code size, but in this case, the size of one cell is reduced. However, since the reading resolution of the scanner is limited, it is often difficult to reduce the cell size. For this reason, the user side may want to form a large QR code and its cell according to the amount of information.

  However, when the size of the cell increases, the writing control apparatus needs to scan one cell with the spot light more times than before the size of the cell is increased in order to develop the color of the entire cell. However, it is difficult to determine an appropriate number of scans (number of lines), an appropriate laser power, and an overlapping degree that can maintain reading performance and durability in advance for an arbitrary cell size.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of drawing an image code while suppressing a decrease in reading performance and durability even when the size of the image code varies. By forming an image code.

  The present invention is an information processing apparatus that provides a spot light control command to an apparatus that fills an area with a plurality of linear color development ranges obtained by scanning with a spot light from the start point to the end point of a line, the original image Corresponding to enlargement rate acquisition means for acquiring the enlargement rate of the area included in the original image data when the data is enlarged to enlarged image data, and width information in the direction perpendicular to the line of the area before enlargement The basic line number table in which the basic line number is registered, the added line number table in which the added line number to be added in association with the enlargement ratio is registered, and the width information of the region included in the original image data The number of basic lines associated with is read from the basic line number table, the number of added lines associated with the enlargement ratio is read from the number of added lines table, the number of added lines is added to the number of basic lines, and the enlargement is performed. Of image data A line number determining means for determining the number of lines for filling the recording area, overlapping width information in the direction of the adjacent linear coloring range when drawing the original image data, and the enlargement ratio Based on the overlap width determining means for determining the overlap width information in the direction of the adjacent linear coloring range when drawing the enlarged image data, and the output value of the spot light when drawing the original image data Output value information determining means for determining output value information of the spot light when drawing the enlarged image data based on the information and the enlargement ratio; the number of lines determined by the line number determining means; and the overlap width determining means And position determining means for determining the position of the line that scans the region in the direction based on the overlap width information determined by.

  It is possible to provide an information processing apparatus capable of drawing an image code while suppressing a decrease in reading performance and durability even when the size of the image code varies.

It is an example of the figure explaining the schematic characteristic of the image processing apparatus of this embodiment. It is an example of the figure which shows the example of drawing to the thermosensitive recording medium used as a label. It is an example of the figure explaining the outline of a laser writing system. It is an example of the hardware block diagram of a writing control apparatus. It is an example of a hardware block diagram of an image processing apparatus. It is an example of a functional block diagram of an image processing device. FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure for determining drawing conditions when the image processing apparatus is enlarged; It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the determination procedure of the number of lines. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the determination procedure of the overlap width of a line. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the determination procedure of a laser power. It is a figure which shows an example of each of the minimum line number table, a line number determination table, an overlap width determination table, and a laser power determination table. It is an example of the figure explaining the overlap width. It is an example of the figure explaining the example of drawing of the character "T" drawn on a thermal recording medium. It is a figure which respectively shows an example of the character of a drawing object, a figure, and an example of the control command which a writing control apparatus uses. It is a figure which shows the one part cell of an image code. It is an example of the figure which illustrates typically the determination of the position of the start point and end point of the left-right direction. It is an example of the figure explaining determination of y coordinate. It is an example of the figure which shows the example of determination of the y coordinate of the stroke in case the number of lines is 3, and the y coordinate of the stroke in the case of the number of lines. It is an example of the figure explaining the order of drawing. It is an example of the figure which shows typically the locus | trajectory of a laser center, and spot light (beam diameter).

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an example of a diagram illustrating schematic features of the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The image processing apparatus has various basic data in advance when the enlargement ratio is 1. The basic data is the number of lines, overlap width, and laser power (hereinafter, these may be referred to as drawing conditions). The number of lines is the number of strokes required to fill the entire QR code cell. The overlap width indicates how much adjacent color development ranges overlap in a linear color development range that develops with spot light. Laser power is an output value of spot light.

  The enlargement ratio is the ratio of the length of one side of a QR code cell to be drawn to the length of one side of a QR code cell having a size for which an appropriate drawing condition is defined. When the entire QR code is expanded, the expansion rate of the entire QR code is equal to the expansion rate of the cell, and may be expressed as the overall expansion rate of the QR code. Since the QR code cell is square, the ratio of the lengths of either the vertical or horizontal sides may be adopted. When the cell length differs vertically or horizontally, the ratio is obtained from the length of the side in the direction perpendicular to the scanning direction. The length of the side of the cell for determining the enlargement rate is referred to as the cell size (when obtaining the enlargement rate from the entire QR code, the length of the side of the QR code is referred to as the QR code size).

  Since the size of the cell before enlargement in which appropriate drawing conditions are set and the size of the entire QR code are known, the enlargement ratio N can be easily calculated if the image code after enlargement is obtained.

  It can be expressed that the image code before enlargement has a magnification of 1 time. The image processing apparatus determines the number of lines, the overlap width, and the laser power in the case of the enlargement ratio N using various basic data when the enlargement ratio is 1 and the enlargement ratio N. By doing this, it is possible to determine the drawing condition of an arbitrary enlargement ratio N from various basic data when the enlargement ratio N is 1.

[Label example]
FIG. 2 is an example of a drawing showing an example of drawing on a thermal recording medium used as a label. On the label 140, a plurality of numbers, characters, figures, an image code 50, and the like are drawn. Numbers, letters, and figures are mainly used by humans to grasp the contents of the label 140, and the image code 50 is formed, for example, for inputting numbers, letters, and other information to the computer of the logistics system. ing.

  The image code 50 is, for example, a QR code, but the drawing condition determination method of the present embodiment can be applied as long as it is an image code that records information in an area to be colored and an area not to be colored. The image code 50 includes, for example, SP code, Veri code, Maxi code, CP code, DataMatrix, Code1, Aztec code, in-sector code, card e, PDF417, Code49, Code16k, Codablock, SuperCode, Ultra Code, RSS Composite Aztec Mesa Etc.

[Configuration example]
FIG. 3 is an example for explaining the outline of the laser writing system 12. As shown, the container 13 is moving on the conveyor 11. A thermosensitive recording medium 14 is held in the container 13 so as to be attached (fixed), attached, or detachable. A laser writing system 12 is disposed at a position facing the thermal recording medium 14 in the conveyance path formed by the conveyor 11. The laser writing system 12 detects the passage of the container 13 with a sensor or the like, and draws numbers, characters, figures, image codes 50 and the like as shown in FIG. 2 on the thermal recording medium 14 that is the label 140.

  The laser writing system 12 includes the writing control device 20 and the image processing device 100 described above. The writing control device 20 has a laser irradiation device 30. The writing control device 20 and the image processing device 100 are connected by wire or wirelessly. It may be connected via a network such as a LAN, or may be connected by serial communication. Note that it is not always necessary to connect them, and it is sufficient that the writing control device 20 can acquire a control command generated by the image processing device 100. For example, a control command can be passed through a storage medium. The writing control apparatus 20 and the image processing apparatus 100 may be configured as an integrated apparatus, and the illustrated form is an example.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the write control device 20. The writing control device 20 includes a control unit 29 and a laser irradiation device 30. The control unit 29 controls the laser irradiation device 30 such as a substrate mounted on the writing control device 20 and a CPU of the writing control device 20. The control unit 29 has an interface with the image processing apparatus 100.

  The laser irradiation device 30 includes a laser oscillator 21 that irradiates a laser, a direction control mirror 24 that changes the laser irradiation direction, a direction control motor 23 that drives the direction control mirror 24, a spot diameter adjustment lens 22, and a focal length adjustment lens 25. Have

  The laser oscillator 21 is a semiconductor laser (LD (Laser Diode)), but may be a gas laser, a solid laser, a liquid laser, or the like. The direction control motor 23 is, for example, a servo motor that controls the direction of the reflecting surface of the direction control mirror 24 to two axes. The direction control motor 23 and the direction control mirror 24 constitute a galvanometer mirror. The spot diameter adjustment lens 22 is a lens that increases the spot diameter of the laser light, and the focal length adjustment lens 25 is a lens that adjusts the focal length by converging the laser light.

  When the control unit 29 supplies the laser oscillator 21 with a PWM signal having a duty ratio based on the control value of the laser power included in the control command and a voltage or current based on the control value, spot light having an intensity corresponding to the control value is emitted. The In the case of the drawing speed, the controller 29 first obtains the laser scanning angle. Since the distance from the laser irradiation device 30 to the rewritable paper 14 is constant, the direction for the direction control mirror 24 to irradiate the laser to the start point of the stroke or unit line segment and the direction to irradiate the laser to the end point are determined. Can be determined. The control unit 29 changes the laser irradiation position of the direction control mirror 24 from the start point direction to the end point direction based on the drawing speed control value included in the control command. For example, in the case of a galvanometer mirror, the direction of the direction control mirror 24 is controlled by a voltage applied to a coil in a magnetic field. A conversion table for converting the direction into voltage in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is prepared, and the voltage in the direction of the starting point to the voltage in the direction of the ending point is changed at a constant angular velocity based on the drawing speed control value.

  The thermosensitive recording medium 14 is composed of four layers, that is, a protective layer, a recording layer composed of a thermoreversible film, a base material layer, and a backcoat layer from the surface toward the depth direction. The thermal recording medium 14 is configured to have a certain degree of strength characteristics as well as flexibility, and can be used repeatedly. The thermal recording medium 14 is sometimes referred to as thermal paper, but is not made only from plant fibers and may not contain any plant fibers.

  The thermal recording medium 14 is provided with a rewritable display area as a rewritable reversible display area in a part thereof. Such a thermal recording medium is called rewritable paper. The rewritable display area is composed of a reversible thermosensitive recording medium such as a thermo-reversible (Thermo-Chromic) film. This reversible thermosensitive recording medium has a mode in which the transparency changes reversibly depending on the temperature and a mode in which the color tone changes reversibly depending on the temperature.

  In this embodiment, a thermoreversible film is used which is a reversible recording medium whose color tone reversibly changes depending on temperature and which realizes rewritable characteristics by including a leuco dye and a developer in the recording layer.

  That is, color development is performed by heating from the decolored state to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point (for example, about 180 ° C.) and rapidly cooling from the molten state in which the leuco dye and the developer are mixed. In this case, the dye and the developer are agglomerated while being combined, and a state in which the dye and the developer are aggregated to a certain degree is formed to fix the colored state.

  On the other hand, erasing is performed by reheating the colored state to a temperature that does not melt (for example, 130 to 170 ° C.). In this case, the aggregate state of the color development is lost, and the color developer is crystallized and separated to be in a decolored state.

  The leuco dye is a colorless or light dye precursor, and is not particularly limited, and can be appropriately selected from conventionally known dye precursors.

  The thermal recording medium 14 has an A4 size, for example, but it is possible to appropriately design the size of the label 140.

  In addition, the laser writing system 12 of the present embodiment can draw on a rewritable recording medium with good color development quality, but it is not a rewritable recording medium (write once recording medium) in which drawing contents are difficult to erase. Can also be drawn. The drawing speed and laser power are set according to the sensitivity of the recording medium. There is an appropriate drawing speed and laser power even for a rewritable recording medium, and there is also an appropriate drawing speed and laser power for a non-rewritable recording medium. The control command setting method of the present embodiment can be suitably applied to a recording medium that is not rewritable within a range of drawing speed and laser power appropriate for the recording medium. Further, it is possible to irradiate the laser itself without a recording medium.

  FIG. 5A shows an example of a hardware block diagram of the image processing apparatus 100. The image processing apparatus 100 can use a general information processing apparatus. As the information processing apparatus, a personal computer, a workstation, a tablet PC, and the like are known, but any name may be used.

  The image processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, HDD 104, network I / F 105, graphic board 106, keyboard 107, mouse 108, media drive 109, and BluRay drive 110. The CPU 101 executes a program 130 stored in the HDD 104 and controls the overall operation of the image processing apparatus 100. The ROM 102 stores IPL (Initial Program Loader) and static data. The RAM 103 is used as a work area where the program 130 is copied from the HDD 104 and the CPU 101 reads and executes the program 130.

  The HDD 104 stores a program 130 executed by the CPU 101 and an OS. The program 130 is a program for the image processing apparatus 100 to generate a control command from data described in a label. The network I / F 105 is, for example, an Ethernet card (registered trademark) for connecting to a network, and mainly provides layer 1 and 2 processing. Layer 3 and higher processing is provided by a TCP / IP protocol stack or program included in the OS.

  The graphic board 106 interprets a drawing command written in the video RAM by the CPU 101 and displays various information such as a window, a menu, a cursor, a character, or an image on the display 120.

  The keyboard 107 includes a plurality of keys for characters, numerical values, various instructions, etc., and accepts user operations and notifies the CPU 101 of them. Similarly, the mouse 108 accepts user operations such as movement of a cursor, selection of a processing target such as a menu, and processing content.

  The media drive 109 controls reading or writing (storage) of data with respect to the recording medium 121 such as a flash memory. The BluRay drive 110 controls reading or writing of various data with respect to an optical medium 122 such as a Blu-ray disc, a compact disc, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) as an example of a removable recording medium. In addition, a bus line 112 such as an address bus or a data bus for electrically connecting the above-described components is provided.

  The program 130 is a file in an installable or executable format, and is recorded and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium 121 or optical medium 122. The program 130 may be distributed to the image processing apparatus 100 in a file that can be installed from a server (not shown) or an executable file.

  FIG. 5B shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the write control device 20. FIG. 5B is a hardware configuration diagram in the case where the control unit 29 of the writing control apparatus 20 is mainly implemented by software, and a computer is an entity. When the control unit 29 of the writing control apparatus 20 is realized without using a computer as an entity, an IC generated for a specific function such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) can be used.

  The write control device 20 includes a CPU 201, a memory 202, a storage medium I / F 203, a communication device 204, a hard disk 205, an input device 206, and a display 207. The hard disk 205 stores a control command DB 210 in which control commands for drawing letters, numbers, symbols, and figures are registered, and a control program 220 for controlling the laser oscillator 21 and the direction control motor 23 based on the control commands.

  The CPU 201 reads and executes the control program 220 from the hard disk 205 and draws characters on the thermal recording medium 14. The memory 202 is a volatile memory such as a DRAM and serves as a work area when the CPU 201 executes the control program 220. The input device 206 is a device for a user to input an instruction to control the laser irradiation device 30 such as a mouse or a keyboard. The display 207 is a user interface that displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen with a predetermined resolution and number of colors based on screen information instructed by the control program 220, for example.

  The storage medium I / F 203 is configured to be detachable from the storage medium 230, and is used when reading data from the storage medium and writing data to the recording medium 230. The control program 220 is distributed while being stored in the storage medium 230, read from the storage medium 230, and installed on the hard disk 205. The control program 220 can be downloaded from a predetermined server connected via a network.

  The storage medium 230 is a removable portable nonvolatile memory such as a Blu-ray disc, a compact disc, a DVD, an SD card, a multimedia card, and an xD card. The communication device 204 is, for example, an Ethernet card (registered trademark), a serial communication device (USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE 1394, Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like), and is used to receive a control command from the image processing apparatus 100. Is done.

[Functions of image processing apparatus]
FIG. 6 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the image processing apparatus. The image processing apparatus 100 includes an image code acquisition unit 51, an enlargement ratio determination unit 52, a line number determination unit 53, an overlap width calculation unit 54, a laser power determination unit 55, and a control command generation unit 56.
The image code acquisition unit 51 acquires the image code 50.
The enlargement ratio determining unit 52 determines the enlargement ratio N from the reference size and the image code 50. The reference size is the size of the cell of the image data before enlargement.
The line number determination unit 53 determines the number of lines necessary to fill a cell from the enlargement ratio N, the enlargement accuracy β, the minimum line number table, and the line number determination table.
The overlap width calculation unit 54 calculates the overlap width of the spot light that fills the cell from the enlargement ratio N, the initial value J ₀ of the overlap width, and the overlap width determination table.
Laser power determining unit 55 determines the laser power from the reference power P ₀ and the laser power determination table magnification N and the laser power.
The control command generation unit 56 determines the coordinates of the start point and end point of the stroke from the determined number of lines and overlap width J, and determines the drawing order of each stroke.

In addition, the basic data DB 57 includes an enlargement accuracy β, a minimum line number table, a line number determination table, an overlap width initial value J ₀ , an overlap width determination table, a reference power, and a laser power determination table. . These will be described later.

<Operation procedure>
7 shows a procedure for the image processing apparatus 100 to determine the drawing conditions for enlargement, FIG. 8 shows a procedure for determining the number of lines, FIG. 9 shows a procedure for determining the overlapping width of lines, and FIG. 10 shows a procedure for determining the laser power. FIG.
Overall Flow S10: The image code acquisition unit 51 acquires the image code 50. Although the image code 50 is stored in the HDD 104, the image code 50 received by the image processing apparatus 100 via the network I / F 105 can be used. The image code acquisition unit 51 can also convert data into an image code. In this case, if the image code is a QR code, the version and the cell size are specified in advance. Since the size of the QR code with an enlargement rate of 1 is known (the length of one side (reference size) of the image code before enlargement is fixed according to the user, for example), the image code 50 is acquired. The enlargement ratio N is calculated.

  S20: The enlargement rate determining unit 52 determines the enlargement rate N. The enlargement ratio N is, for example, the ratio of the cell size before and after enlargement, or the ratio of the size of the enlarged image code to the size of the image code before enlargement. The enlargement ratio N is an integer or a value larger than 1 which is a real number.

A calculation example will be described. Assume that a 1-fold image code 50 is formed with version 1 and a cell size of, for example, 0.25 mm. In the QR code after enlargement, it is assumed that the cell size is set to 0.4 mm in consideration of the enlargement ratio N, for example. For this reason, the enlargement ratio N can be obtained by the following formula as a ratio of the cell sizes before and after the enlargement.
Magnification ratio N = 0.4 / 0.25 = 1.6
The enlargement ratio of the entire QR code is as follows. Since the number of cells in version 1 is 21 × 21, the length of one side (reference size) of the QR code is 21 × 0.25 = 5.25 mm. When the QR code version after expansion is 3, the number of cells is 29 × 29, and when the cell size is 0.4 mm, the length of one side of the QR code is 29 × 0.4 = 1.11. 6mm. Therefore, the enlargement ratio is 11.6 / 5.25 = 2.21.

  Further, the 1 × image code 50 may be enlarged as a whole. This is a method of enlarging the entire image code after increasing the number of cells to 29 × 29, for example, while maintaining the overall size, for example, 10 mm (the cell size is specified to be 10 mm). In this case, the enlargement ratio N is the ratio of the image code sizes before and after enlargement. In this case, the enlargement ratio N of the cell and the image code matches.

  S30: The number-of-lines determination unit 53 determines the number of lines I necessary to fill a cell from the enlargement ratio N, the enlargement accuracy β, the minimum number-of-lines table, and the number-of-lines determination table.

S40: The overlap width calculator 54 calculates the overlap ratio J of the spot light that fills the cell from the enlargement ratio N, the initial value J ₀ of the overlap width, and the overlap width determination table.

S50: Laser power determining unit 55 determines a reference power P ₀ and the laser power from the laser power determination table magnification N and the laser power.

S60: The control command generator 56 generates a control command.
-Determination of the number of lines (S30)
S301: The line number determination unit 53 acquires the enlargement accuracy β, the minimum line number table, and the line number determination table from the basic data DB 57.

  FIG. 11A shows an example of the minimum line number table. The minimum number k of lines is registered for each cell size. The minimum number k of lines is the minimum number of lines that can ensure the repeated durability of the thermal recording medium and the reading performance when the enlargement ratio is 1. As the cell size increases, the number of lines required to fill increases.

  The minimum number of lines k is determined as the number of lines that can be handled even when the size of the image code 50 is slightly larger than the size of the image code 50. A value defining the size that can be handled is the enlargement accuracy β. The enlargement accuracy β is a number of 1 or more and takes a value of 1 to 9. The enlargement ratio N is determined by using the enlargement accuracy β. When expressed as β times, the magnification N is 1-1. In the range of β times, cells can be filled with the minimum number of lines k. Therefore, the enlargement accuracy β increases as the cell width that can be handled with the minimum number of lines k is wide (a value close to 9), and decreases as the cell width that can be handled is narrow (a value close to 1). . The minimum number of lines k and the enlargement accuracy β are values obtained experimentally.

  In the present embodiment, each cell is enlarged at the same enlargement rate as the enlargement rate N of the image code 50. Since the minimum line number table corresponds to the size of the cell before enlargement, the line number determination unit 53 reads the minimum line number k associated with the size of the cell before enlargement.

  S302: The line number determining unit 53 has an enlargement ratio N of 1 or more. It is determined whether or not β or less.

  S303: The enlargement ratio N is 1 or more. In the case of β or less, the line number determination unit 53 sets the minimum line number k as the line number I.

  S304: The enlargement ratio N is 1 or more. When it is not less than β (that is, when it is larger than 1.β), the line number determination unit 53 sets the minimum line number k + α [N] as the line number I.

FIG. 11B is a diagram showing an example of the line number determination table. α [N] is experimentally obtained for the enlargement ratio N. Therefore, α [N] tends to increase as the enlargement ratio N increases. α [N] is the minimum number of lines to be added in order to ensure the repeated durability of the thermal recording medium and the reading performance when the image code 50 is formed at the enlargement ratio N. In FIG. 11 (b), it is assumed that the enlargement accuracy β is “9”, and the enlargement ratio N can be handled up to 1.9 times with the minimum number of lines k. According to FIG.11 (b), (alpha) is determined as follows.
When the enlargement ratio N is 2.0 to 2.4, α [N] = 1
When the enlargement ratio N is 2.5 to 2.9, α [N] = 2
When the enlargement ratio N is 3.0 to 3.5, α [N] = 3
Therefore, for example, if the size of the cell before enlargement is 0.3 mm, the number of lines I is as follows.
Magnification ratio N is 2.0 to 2.4 I = 2 + 1 = 3
Magnification N is 2.5 to 2.9 I = 2 + 2 = 4
Magnification N is 3.0 to 3.5 I = 2 + 3 = 5
-Determination of overlap width (S40)
FIG. 12 is an example for explaining the overlap width J. As the overlapping width J of the spot lights is increased, the color developability is improved, but the durability is easily lowered. In addition, the smaller the overlapping width J of the spot light, the better the durability, but the color developability deteriorates (because the already drawn area is higher than the decoloring temperature and lower than the color developing temperature). Experimentally, the maximum overlap width and the minimum overlap width can be obtained for a certain laser power. FIG. 12A shows the maximum overlap width, and FIG. 12B shows the minimum overlap width.

  If the spot light is overlapped exceeding the maximum overlap width, durability cannot be ensured, and if spot light less than the minimum overlap width is overlapped, there is a risk of decoloring. Considering this, an appropriate overlap width for the enlargement ratio N is experimentally determined.

S401: the overlap width calculating unit 54 obtains the basic data DB 57, the width determining table overlaps with the initial value _{J 0} of the overlap width J. The initial value J ₀ is the overlap width when the enlargement ratio N = 1.0.

FIG. 11C shows an example of the overlap width determination table. The enlargement ratio N and the change amount ε are associated with each other. The overlapping width J may be smaller as the number I of lines for filling the cell is larger. This is because a heat load is likely to be applied when the number of lines I is large, and therefore, the durability is improved when the overlap width J is reduced. Therefore, the overlap width J from the initial value J ₀ in the case of the magnification N = 1.0, determined by subtracting the higher the enlargement ratio N is large increases variation epsilon. Therefore, in FIG. 11C, the amount of change ε increases as the enlargement ratio N increases. The amount of change ε can be determined experimentally.
When the enlargement ratio N is 1.5 to 1.9, ε = 20
When the enlargement ratio N is 2.0 to 2.4, ε = 40
When the enlargement ratio N is 2.5-2.9, ε = 60
When the enlargement ratio N is 3.0 to 3.5, ε = 80
The change amount ε represents a length, but is a value converted into a control value of the writing control device 20. For this reason, it is not a value expressed in general units such as millimeters, but can be appropriately converted into general units.

  S402: The overlap width calculator 54 determines whether or not the enlargement ratio N is “1.0”.

S403: If the enlargement ratio N is "1.0", the overlapping width calculating unit 54 as the initial value _{J 0} width J overlap.
Magnification N = 1.0 J = J ₀
S404: When the enlargement ratio N is not “1.0”, the overlap width calculation unit 54 reads the change amount ε according to the enlargement ratio N and calculates the overlap width J.
The enlargement ratio N is 1.5 to 1.9 J = J ₀ −20
The enlargement ratio N is 2.0 to 2.4 J = J ₀ −40
The enlargement ratio N is 2.5 to 2.9 J = J ₀ -60
The enlargement ratio N is 3.0 to 3.5 J = J ₀ −80
-Determination of laser power (S50)
S501: Laser power determining unit 55 reads the reference power _{P 0} and the laser power determination table from the basic data DB 57. The reference power P ₀ is the laser power when the enlargement ratio N = 1.0.

  As described above, the larger the enlargement ratio N, the greater the number I of lines for drawing one cell. When the number of lines I increases, it is preferable to adjust the laser power so that the heat between the lines interferes and the color disappears. For this reason, the laser power is made larger than the laser power for drawing the image code 50 of 1 time in accordance with the magnification N.

  FIG. 11D shows an example of the laser power determination table. The relationship between the enlargement ratio N and the amount of change δ of the laser power P is registered. The amount of change δ can be determined experimentally, but is the minimum power that does not damage the thermal recording medium. In the figure, δ is uniformly associated with an enlargement ratio N other than 1.0, but δ that increases as the enlargement ratio N increases may be associated.

  S502: The laser power determination unit 55 reads the variation δ based on the enlargement factor N.

S503: The laser power determination unit 55 determines the laser power based on the read change amount δ.
The magnification N is 1.0 P = P ₀
Magnification ratio N is other than 1.0 P = P ₀ + δ
[Create control instructions]
When the number I of lines, the overlap width J, and the laser power P are determined, the control command generation unit 56 can generate a control command. The drawing conditions include drawing speed in addition to laser power. The writing control device 20 can variably control not only the laser power but also the drawing speed. However, the higher the drawing speed, the greater the number of outputs of the label 140 per unit time. Therefore, the drawing speed is preferably as fast as possible. For this reason, the number of lines I, the overlap width, and the laser power described above are experimentally determined at the highest possible drawing speed.

  First, line drawing and character control commands will be described.

  FIG. 13 is an example illustrating a drawing example of the character “T” drawn on the thermal recording medium. FIG. 13A shows a print example of a printing apparatus such as a printer shown for comparison. “T” is formed by two strokes of a horizontal line and a vertical line. When drawing “T” with a laser, the two strokes are traced with spot light.

  FIG. 13B is a diagram showing an example of a pair (s1, e1) and (s2, e2) of the start point and end point of the stroke. The writing control device 20 that controls the irradiation position of the laser moves the irradiation position to s1 without irradiating the laser, for example, by adjusting the position of the spot light with a galvanometer mirror. Subsequently, laser irradiation is started (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “laser ON”), and the spot light is moved from s1 to e1.

  Next, the writing control device 20 stops the laser irradiation (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “laser OFF”), and moves the irradiation position to s2 without irradiating the laser. Next, laser irradiation is started and the spot light is moved from s2 to e2. Thereby, two strokes are drawn, and the letter “T” is drawn on the thermal recording medium.

  As described above, when forming an intended character or the like on the thermosensitive recording medium, the writing control device 20 performs control with a command such as “turn on the laser from a certain position to move the spot light”.

FIG. 14A shows an example of characters and figures to be drawn, and FIG. 14B shows an example of a control command used by the writing control device 20. The control command means the following contents in order from the left. Laser power P and drawing speed are omitted.
ln: Line number (stroke number)
W: Laser ON / OFF ("1" is ON, "0" is OFF)
Sp: Start point coordinates
Ep: End point coordinates The coordinates are designated as (X, Y), where X designates the horizontal position and Y designates the vertical position. It is assumed that the value of X increases as it is positioned to the right, and the value of Y increases as it goes down. The method of obtaining the coordinate points is an example.

<Generation of control instructions for image code>
Subsequently, generation of a control command in the case of an image code will be described. The control command generator 56 generates a control command as shown in FIG. 14B from the image code 50 as shown in FIG.

  (i) FIG. 15 is a diagram showing some cells of the image code. When the image code 50 as shown in FIG. 15 is given, the control command generator 56 extracts black cells. Black cells are cells that are filled with a laser.

  (ii) The control command generation unit 56 searches for black cells in a predetermined direction such as a vertical direction or a horizontal direction, and connects continuous black cells (hereinafter referred to as a connected cell). Taking the horizontal direction as an example, cells in the 5th to 7th columns in the first row, cells in the 6th and 7th column in the 3rd row, cells in the 1st and 2nd columns in the 4th row, 4 to 4 in the 5th row Cells in 6 columns are connected to cells in the 5th to 7th columns in the 6th row, cells in the 3rd and 4th columns in the 7th row, and cells in the 2nd to 6th columns in the 8th row.

  Alternatively, the scanning direction of the spot light may be determined by extracting connected cells in each of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction instead of determining the vertical direction or the horizontal direction in advance. When the number of single cells and connected cells is summed, the connectivity of the cells is better in the direction of fewer numbers, so that the drawing time can be shortened.

(iii) The control command generator 56 generates a stroke having a start point and an end point for each single cell and each connected cell. The start point and end point in the left-right direction are determined as follows.
FIG. 16 is an example of a diagram schematically illustrating the determination of the start point and end point positions in the left-right direction. FIG. 16 shows only the cells in the first row of FIG. If the cell position (row number and column number) is known, the image code size, the number of cells, and the cell size are known, so the coordinates of the vertices of each cell are also known. In FIG. 16, the coordinates of the vertices of each cell are represented by the row number and column number of each cell. However, since the y coordinate of the vertex is common to each cell, the y coordinate of the upper left vertex of the cell is y1, and the right of the cell The lower vertex is indicated by y2. Note that the vertices of adjacent cells overlap.
In the case of a single cell: Of the upper left vertex (x2, y1) and lower right vertex (x2, y2) of the cell, x2 is the x coordinate of the start point, and x2 is the x coordinate of the end point.
In the case of a connected cell: Of the upper left vertex (x5, y1) and lower right vertex (x7, y2) of that cell, x5 is the x coordinate of the start point, and x7 is the x coordinate of the end point.

  (iv) Next, the control command generator 56 determines the y-coordinates of the start point and end point of single cells and connected cells. When the stroke is horizontal, the y coordinate of either the start point or the end point may be determined.

  FIG. 17 is an example of a diagram for explaining the determination of the y coordinate. Since the line number I and the cell size D have already been determined, it can be considered that the cell size D is divided equally by the line number I. However, in order to consider the overlap width J, the y coordinate of each stroke is determined as follows.

  First, a method for determining the arrangement of strokes from the center of the cell will be described. In this case, the determination method differs depending on whether the number of lines I is odd or even.

Case of odd number FIG. 17A shows a case where the number of lines I is an odd number. Each parallel stroke is drawn so that the ends overlap to the extent that no thermal load is applied. By providing an overlap portion, it is easy to prevent a gap from being generated between strokes. This overlap is the overlap width J.

  First, the control command generation unit 56 determines the center of the line width as the y coordinate of one stroke. Next, the y coordinate of the remaining stroke is determined at a position “tJ” from the center stroke. “t” is the diameter (beam diameter) of the spot light. The positions of the remaining strokes are positions separated by “t−J” from the central stroke.

  For example, when the number of lines I is 3, the y coordinate of the central stroke is “y1 + D / 2”, the y coordinate of the upper stroke of the central stroke is “y1 + D / 2− (t−J)”, and the central stroke The y coordinate of the lower stroke is “y1 + D / 2 + (t−J)”. D is the width of the cell.

Case of Even Number FIG. 17B shows a case where the number of lines I is an even number. In the case of an even number, the same number of strokes are arranged symmetrically about the center line (virtual line). First, the stroke position closest to the center line is a position away from the center line by “(t−J) / 2”. The remaining strokes are arranged at a distance of “(t−J)” with respect to the stroke next to the center line.

  For example, when the number of lines I is 4, the y coordinate of the top stroke in a cell is “y1 + D / 2 + (3J−3t) / 2”, and the y coordinate of the second stroke from the top is “y1 + D / 2- (t-J) / 2 ".

  Thus, by determining the arrangement of the stroke from the center of the cell, it becomes easy to suppress the occurrence of decoloring near the center of the cell.

  As shown in FIG. 17, instead of determining the y-coordinate of the stroke starting from the center, the y-coordinate of each stroke may be determined in order from the upper side of the cell so as not to be decolored.

  18A shows the y coordinate of the stroke when the number of lines I is 3, and FIG. 18B shows the y coordinate of the stroke when the number of lines I is 4. When the y coordinate of each stroke is determined in order from the upper side of the cell, it is not necessary to consider whether the number of lines I is an even number or an odd number. For this reason, regardless of whether the number of lines I is an even number or an odd number, the y coordinate of the top stroke is a position away from the top side of the cell by “t / 2” (shifted downward by half the diameter of the spot light). The y-coordinates of the second and subsequent strokes are arranged at positions that are separated by a distance “tJ” from the previous stroke.

  Therefore, the y coordinate of the top stroke is “y1 + t / 2”, the y coordinate of the second stroke is “y1 + 3t / 2−J”, and the y coordinate of the third stroke is “y1 + 5t / 2-2J”, 4 The y coordinate of the second stroke is “y1 + 7t / 2−3J”.

  When the y coordinate of the stroke in FIG. 17 is compared with the y coordinate of the stroke in FIG. 18, the y coordinate in FIG.

  The control command generation unit generates a control command by assigning an order to strokes for filling each cell or connected cell, for which the coordinates of the start point and the end point are determined as described above.

  FIG. 19 is an example of a diagram illustrating the drawing order. Here, the number of lines I is four. In FIG. 19A, the stroke drawing order is determined for each cell. That is, the drawing order is given to the four strokes that fill the cells in the second column of the first row in order from the top. Then, the drawing order is given in order from the top to the four strokes that fill the cells in the 5th to 7th columns of the first row that are the same row. As described above, the control command generation unit 56 assigns the order to the strokes in order from the top in units of rows and columns.

In FIG. 19B, the stroke drawing order is determined for each y coordinate of the stroke. That is, the drawing order is given to the strokes having the same y coordinate in order from the left. If there is no stroke with the same y coordinate, the same order is given to the stroke with the next y coordinate. Therefore,
1: The first stroke of the cell in the second column of the first row,
2: Top stroke to fill cells in columns 5-7
3: The second stroke from the top of the cell in the second column of the first row,
4: The second stroke from the top to fill the cells in the 5th to 7th columns,
The drawing order is given as follows.

  In the case where the order is given as shown in FIG. 19B, it is possible to take time until the adjacent strokes are drawn. Therefore, there is an advantage that the thermal load of the thermal recording medium is reduced.

  FIGS. 19A and 19B show the drawing order assuming the case where the writing control apparatus 20 irradiates spot light only in the forward path. On the other hand, the writing control apparatus of this embodiment can also cope with the drawing order in which spot light is irradiated on both the forward path and the return path.

  FIG. 19C shows the drawing order when spot light is irradiated both in the forward path and the return path with respect to the drawing order in FIG. 19A, and FIG. 19D shows the outgoing order in the drawing order in FIG. The drawing order in the case where the spot light is irradiated on both the return path and the return path is shown. In these cases, since the idle running distance of the writing control device 20 passes, there is an advantage that the drawing time can be shortened.

  In addition, it is also possible to give the order while skipping one stroke. For example, in the example of FIG. 19A, the drawing order is given in the order of “1, 3, 2, 4” and “5, 7, 6, 8”. In the example of FIG. 19B, the drawing order is given in the order of “1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4, 7, 8”. In the example of FIG. 19C, the drawing order is given in the order of “1, 3, 2, 4”, “5, 7, 6, 8”. In the example of FIG. 19D, the drawing order is given in the order of “1, 2, 5, 6, 3, 4, 7, 8”. Since time can be set before drawing adjacent strokes, there is an advantage that the thermal load on the thermal recording medium is reduced. Further, in FIG. 19C and FIG. 19D, if the spot light is irradiated on both the forward path and the return path, two effects are obtained that the free running distance is reduced and the thermal load on the thermal recording medium is reduced. It is done.

  As described above, the image processing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment determines the number of lines I, the overlap width J, and the laser power using various basic data and the enlargement ratio N when the enlargement ratio N is 1. Therefore, it is possible to determine a drawing condition of an arbitrary enlargement ratio N from the basic data when the enlargement ratio N is 1.

  In the present embodiment, the QR code has been described as an example, but the method for determining the number I of lines of the present embodiment can also be applied to a barcode. In the case of a barcode, since the bar width corresponds to the cell size, the same calculation may be performed according to the bar width enlargement ratio N.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Laser writing system 14 Thermal recording medium 20 Writing control apparatus 30 Laser irradiation apparatus 50 Image code 51 Image code acquisition part 52 Magnification rate determination part 53 Line number determination part 54 Overlap width calculation part 55 Laser power determination part 56 Control command generation part 56 100 Image processing device 140 Label

JP 2004-90026 JP

Claims (8)

An information processing device that provides a control command for the spot light to a device that fills an area with a plurality of linear coloring ranges obtained by scanning with a spot light from the start point to the end point of a line,
An enlargement rate acquisition means for acquiring an enlargement rate of the region included in the original image data when the original image data is enlarged to the enlarged image data;
A basic line number table in which basic line numbers are registered in association with width information in a direction perpendicular to the line of the region before enlargement;
An addition line number table in which the number of addition lines to be added in association with the enlargement ratio is registered;
Reading the number of basic lines associated with the width information of the region included in the original image data from the basic line number table, reading the number of addition lines associated with the enlargement ratio from the addition line number table, A line number determining means for adding the number of additional lines to the basic line number and determining the number of lines for filling the region of the enlarged image data;
Based on the overlapping width information in the direction of the adjacent linear coloring range when drawing the original image data, and the enlargement ratio, the adjacent linear coloring range when drawing the enlarged image data Overlap width determining means for determining overlap width information in the direction;
Output value information determining means for determining the output value information of the spot light when drawing the enlarged image data based on the output value information of the spot light and the magnification rate when drawing the original image data;
Position determining means for determining the position of the line scanning the region in the direction based on the number of lines determined by the line number determining means and the overlap width information determined by the overlap width determining means. Information processing apparatus. Basic overlap width information, which is the overlap width information of adjacent linear coloring ranges when drawing the original image data,
An overlap width table in which overlap reduction information corresponding to the enlargement rate is registered, and overlap reduction information that is a reduction with respect to the basic overlap width information;
The overlap width determining means reads the overlap reduction information associated with the enlargement ratio from the overlap width table, subtracts the overlap reduction information from the basic overlap width information, and draws the enlarged image data. Determine the overlap width information of the adjacent linear coloring range,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An output value table in which output value difference information is registered with respect to the basic output value information of the spot light when drawing the original image data in association with the enlargement ratio;
The output value information determination means reads the output value difference information associated with the enlargement ratio from the output value table, adds the output value difference information to the basic output value information, and draws the enlarged image data Determining the output value information of the spot light when
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The enlargement factor acquisition means acquires the enlargement factor for the original image data of the enlarged image data.
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The line number determining means compares the enlargement ratio with a predetermined threshold value less than 2,
When the enlargement ratio is less than the threshold value, the basic line number is determined as the number of lines for filling the area of the enlarged image data without adding the additional line number to the basic line number.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus. An information processing method for an information processing device that provides a control command for the spot light to a device that fills an area with a plurality of linear coloring ranges obtained by scanning with spot light from the start point to the end point of a line,
An enlargement factor acquisition means for acquiring the enlargement factor of the region included in the original image data when the original image data is enlarged into the enlarged image data;
The number-of-lines determination unit determines the width information of the area included in the original image data from the basic number-of-lines table in which the number of basic lines is registered in association with the width information in the direction perpendicular to the lines of the area before enlargement. Reading the number of basic lines associated with
Reading an addition line number associated with the enlargement ratio from an addition line number table in which the addition line number is registered in association with the enlargement ratio;
Adding the number of additional lines to the number of basic lines and determining the number of lines for filling the region of the enlarged image data;
The overlap width determining means is adjacent when drawing the enlarged image data based on the overlap width information in the direction of the adjacent linear coloring range when drawing the original image data and the enlargement ratio. Determining overlapping width information in the direction of the linear coloring range;
The output value information determining means determines the output value information of the spot light when drawing the enlarged image data based on the output value information of the spot light and the magnification rate when drawing the original image data. Steps,
The position determining means determining the position of the line scanning the area in the direction based on the number of lines determined by the line number determining means and the overlapping width determined by the overlap width determining means; An information processing method characterized by the above. A system having a device that fills an area with a plurality of linear coloring ranges obtained by scanning with a spot light from the start point to the end point of a line, and an information processing device that provides the spot light control command to the device,
The information processing apparatus includes:
An enlargement rate acquisition means for acquiring an enlargement rate of the region included in the original image data when the original image data is enlarged to the enlarged image data;
A basic line number table in which basic line numbers are registered in association with width information in a direction perpendicular to the line of the region before enlargement;
An addition line number table in which the number of addition lines to be added in association with the enlargement ratio is registered;
The basic line number associated with the width information of the region included in the original image data is read from the basic line number table, the addition line number associated with the enlargement factor is read from the addition line number table, A number-of-lines determination unit that adds the number of lines to the number of lines and determines the number of lines for filling the region of the enlarged image data;
Based on the overlap width information and the enlargement ratio of the adjacent linear coloring range in the direction when drawing the original image data, in the direction of the adjacent linear coloring range in drawing the enlarged image data. Overlap width determining means for determining overlap width information;
Output value information determining means for determining the output value information of the spot light when drawing the enlarged image data based on the output value information of the spot light and the magnification rate when drawing the original image data;
Based on the number of lines determined by the number of lines determination means and the overlap width information determined by the overlap width determination means, position determining means for determining the position of the line scanning the region in the direction,
The apparatus has irradiation means for irradiating spot light based on the control command,
A system characterized by that. To an information processing device that provides a control command for the spot light to a device that fills an area with a plurality of linear coloring ranges obtained by scanning with a spot light from the start point to the end point of a line,
An enlargement rate acquisition step for acquiring the enlargement rate of the region included in the original image data when the original image data is enlarged to the enlarged image data;
From the basic line number table in which the basic line number is registered in association with the width information in the direction perpendicular to the line of the area before enlargement, the basic information associated with the width information of the area included in the original image data Reading the number of lines;
Reading an addition line number associated with the enlargement ratio from an addition line number table in which the addition line number is registered in association with the enlargement ratio;
A line number determining step of adding the number of additional lines to the basic line number and determining the number of lines for filling the region of the enlarged image data;
Based on the overlap width information and the enlargement ratio of the adjacent linear coloring range in the direction when drawing the original image data, in the direction of the adjacent linear coloring range in drawing the enlarged image data. An overlap width determining step for determining overlap width information;
Output value information determination step for determining the output value information of the spot light when drawing the enlarged image data based on the output value information of the spot light and the magnification rate when drawing the original image data;
A position determining step for determining a position of the line that scans the region in the direction based on the number of lines determined in the line number determining step and the overlapping width determined in the overlapping width determining step. .

Images