JP2000006384A - Printing equipment that can print on three-dimensional surfaces - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus capable of printing on a three-dimensional surface such as a nail. SOLUTION: A scanner 12 for measuring the shape of a print area of a three-dimensional surface to be printed which is fixedly arranged, and a content such as a pattern or a pattern to be printed is selected based on the shape of the print area measured by the scanner. The printing apparatus 10 capable of printing on a three-dimensional surface is configured to include the control unit 14 and the ink jet printer 13 that prints the content selected by the control unit on a print area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing on a three-dimensional surface such as a nail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, so-called nail art, in which nail polish is applied as a base to nails instead of nail polish and various patterns, designs, and the like are colored thereon, has been widely used in recent years. I have. At present, such nail art is performed manually either by an individual or by a specialist.

[0003]

However, since such nail art is manually performed, there is a problem in that it takes time and effort and costs are increased. On the other hand, a printer used as a peripheral device such as a personal computer has a considerable degree of freedom in printing contents, and is most suitable for coloring patterns and designs for nail art. as,
It is limited to flat surfaces such as plain paper, postcards, stickers, and fabrics, and cannot be printed on three-dimensional surfaces such as nails.

[0004] In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a printing apparatus capable of printing on a three-dimensional surface such as a nail.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a scanner for measuring the shape of a print area of a three-dimensional surface to be printed fixedly arranged, and a scanner for measuring the shape of the print area measured by the scanner. A control means for selecting content such as a pattern or a pattern to be printed, and an ink jet printer for printing the content selected by the control means on a print area. This is achieved by a printing device for the surface.

[0006] The printing apparatus according to the present invention preferably comprises display means for displaying the shape of the print area and the content selected by the control means in a superimposed manner.

In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, preferably, the control means enlarges or reduces the selected content in accordance with the shape of the print area displayed on the screen of the display means, or adjusts the content vertically or horizontally. Move to

In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, preferably, the scanner and the printer are alternately disposed or retracted with respect to a printing area of a three-dimensional surface to be printed.

In the printing apparatus according to the present invention, preferably, the three-dimensional surface to be printed is a nail or an artificial nail.

According to the above configuration, the shape of the print area of the three-dimensional surface to be printed, such as a nail or an artificial nail, is measured by the scanner, and the control means selects the content based on the shape of the print area. Then, the printer prints the content in the print area. In this case, since the printer is an ink jet printer,
Since printing is possible even when there is a gap from the printer head to the printing surface, printing can be reliably performed even on a curved surface such as a nail or an artificial nail. Therefore, even in the case of a complicated pattern, design, or the like, printing can be easily and quickly performed on a three-dimensional surface such as a nail or an artificial nail, so that a so-called nail art can be easily performed.

[0011] In the case where there is provided a display means for displaying the shape of the print area and the content selected by the control means in a superimposed manner, the user can operate the nail or false nail displayed on the screen of the display means. While visually recognizing the shape and the content to be printed thereon, the user can select his or her favorite content.

When the control means enlarges or reduces the selected content or moves it vertically or horizontally in accordance with the shape of the print area displayed on the screen of the display means, the user By enlarging or reducing the favorite content according to the shape of the nail or artificial nail, or by moving it vertically or horizontally, the content can be freely trimmed and arranged as desired. .

When the scanner and the printer are alternately arranged or retracted with respect to the print area of the three-dimensional surface to be printed, the three-dimensional surface to be printed is kept fixed. The measurement of the shape by the scanner and the printing by the printer can be performed on the printing area of the surface.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a printing apparatus for a three-dimensional surface to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a printing apparatus 10 is a printing apparatus for printing contents on nails, and includes a main body case 1.
1 includes a scanner 12, a printer 13, a control circuit 14, a display device 15, a memory 16, and a fixture 17 housed in the apparatus 1.

The scanner 12 is a contact type or non-contact type scanner having a known structure,
At the insertion position 7, the shape of the nail (printing area) of the user fixed on the mounting table 17a of the fixture 17 is read, and the size is measured. The scanner 12 is movably supported between a use position facing the user's nail at an insertion position of the fixture 17 and a retracted position moved to one side.

The printer 13 is an ink-jet printer.
Of the user (printing area) fixed on the mounting table 17a
Is printed. The printer 12 can move between a use position facing the user's nail at the insertion position of the fixture 17 and a retracted position moved to the other side (opposite to the retracted position of the scanner). Supported.

The control circuit 14 appropriately reads, for example, contents to be printed (various patterns, patterns, etc.) stored in the memory 16 based on the shape of the nail measured by the scanner 12, as will be described later. The content is displayed on the display device 15 and the selected content is sent to the printer 13.

The display device 15 is a CRT in the illustrated case.
(Cathode ray tube), which superimposes and displays the nail shape measured by the scanner 12 and the content selected by the control circuit 14.

The memory 16 stores a plurality of types of contents, and sends designated contents to the control circuit 14 in response to a read command from the control circuit 14. The memory 16 is, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a CD-RO.
M, or any storage means, such as smart media or compact flash.

The fixture 17 is provided so as to be able to be pulled out of the main body case 11 from a drawn-out position shown in the drawing to an insertion position inserted into the main body case 11, so that a user can place his / her hand thereon. Mounting table 17a.

The printing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, and operates as follows when printing a desired content on a nail. First, the user places his / her hand on the mounting table 17a of the fixture 17 pulled out of the main body case 11, and
Is inserted in the main body case 11 by pushing in the direction of arrow A. Thereby, the control circuit 14 controls the scanner 1
2 is moved to face the nail on the mounting table 17a of the fixture 17, and the scanner 12 measures the shape of the nail. After the measurement, the control circuit 14 moves the scanner 12 to the retracted position and displays the measured nail shape on the screen of the display device 15.

Here, the user selects a desired content by the control circuit 14. Thereby, the control circuit 14
Reads the data of the content from the memory 16 and similarly displays the data on the screen of the display device 15. At this time, the nail shape and the content are displayed in an overlapping manner. At this time, the user operates the control circuit 14 while looking at the screen of the display device 15 to enlarge or reduce the content in accordance with the shape of the nail and further move the content in the vertical or horizontal direction. Thus, it is possible to determine the optimum content for the nail shape. The control circuit 1
4, the color scheme of the content may be changed. Thereby, a wider variety of contents can be obtained.

Thereafter, the control circuit 14 sends the content determined in this way to the printer 13 and moves the printer 13 from the retracted position to the use position on the fixture 17. Thus, the printer 13 prints the content on the nail fixed on the mounting table 17a of the fixture 17. In this case, the printer 13
By printing within the range of the nail shape measured by the scanner 12, the print does not protrude from the nail. In addition, since the printer 13 is an ink jet printer, printing can be performed even at intervals, so that the content can be reliably printed even on the curved nail surface. Thus, the user looks at the content on the screen of the display device 15,
By selecting the content that you like, and scaling it or moving it vertically and horizontally according to the shape of the nail, you can determine the original content and easily and quickly Can be printed.

In the above embodiment, a CRT is used as the display device 15, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any display device such as a liquid crystal display device may be used, and the display device may be omitted. . Further, in the above embodiment, the finger of the hand is placed on the mounting table 17a of the fixture 17,
The printing is performed on the finger of the hand, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the printing can be performed in the same manner in the case of the toe. By fixing the false nail on the mounting table 17a, it is also possible to perform printing on the false nail.

Further, in the above embodiment, the control circuit 14 is built in the main body case 11, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a computer such as a personal computer can be used. In this case, a display device or an auxiliary storage device connected to a computer can be used as the display device 15 and the memory 16, and the scanner 12 and the printer 13 can be operated by various applications running on the computer. Is possible.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the shape of the print area of a three-dimensional surface to be printed, such as a nail or an artificial nail, is first measured by a scanner, and the control means controls the print area. By selecting the content based on the shape, the printer prints the content in the print area. In this case, since the printer is an ink jet printer, even if there is a gap from the printer head to the printing surface, printing can be performed, so that even a curved surface such as a nail or an artificial nail can be reliably formed. Printing can be performed. Therefore, even in the case of a complicated pattern, design, or the like, printing can be easily and quickly performed on a three-dimensional surface such as a nail or an artificial nail, so that a so-called nail art can be easily performed. Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an extremely excellent printing apparatus capable of printing on a three-dimensional surface such as a nail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of a printing apparatus capable of printing on a three-dimensional surface according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Printing apparatus 11 Main body case 12 Scanner 13 Ink jet printer 14 Control circuit 15 Display device 16 Memory 17 Fixture 17a Mounting table

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A scanner for measuring a shape of a printing area of a three-dimensional surface to be printed, which is fixedly arranged, and selecting a content such as a pattern or a pattern to be printed based on the shape of the printing area measured by the scanner. A printing apparatus for a three-dimensional surface, comprising: a control unit; and an ink jet printer that prints the content selected by the control unit on a print area. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying the shape of the print area and the content selected by the control means in a superimposed manner. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control means enlarges or reduces the selected content or moves the selected content vertically or horizontally in accordance with the shape of the print area displayed on the screen of the display means. The printing apparatus according to claim 1. 4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scanner and the printer are alternately arranged or retracted with respect to a print area of a three-dimensional surface to be printed. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional surface to be printed is a nail. 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional surface to be printed is an artificial nail.