Patent Publication Number: US-2006007470-A1

Title: Print control apparatus and printer

Description:
This application is based on Japanese Patent application JP 2004-199038, filed Jul. 6, 2004, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference. This claim for priority benefit is being filed concurrently with the filing of this application.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Technical Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a print control apparatus which performs print control of an image based on image data in a printer and the printer including the same.  
      2. Detailed Description of the Invention  
      There is known, as a related art, a portable printer which prints an image based on image data transmitted from a cellular phone with a camera onto an instant film (for example, JP-A-2002-92350, hereafter “JPA &#39;350”).  
      As the instant film, in addition to one in which an outer frame portion except a portion where an image is to be printed is plain, like an instant film  1  shown in  FIG. 12A , one in which a character  2  is previously printed in its outer frame portion is also on sale.  
      According to a system disclosed in JPA &#39;350, for example, a frame image  4  (hereinafter also referred to as content) downloaded from a content provider by a cellular phone and including a character  3  as shown in  FIG. 12B  is combined with an image photographed by the cellular phone to create an original image, this original image is printed on the instant film  1 , and a photograph  5  as shown in  FIG. 12C  can be formed.  
      In the case where the copyrights of the character  2  and the character  3  are managed, and the respective characters are literary works of different companies (especially competing companies), it is not desirable for the competing companies that something like the photograph  5  can be formed. When there is a scheme to prevent such an undesirable situation, the owner of copyright can perform such a service that a frame image including a character whose copyright is required to be managed is delivered to a user. However, under the present circumstances, since there is no scheme to prevent the above situation, the owner of copyright is reluctant to perform the service as stated above. From such reason, the photograph  5  as stated above can be formed only in a case where the character  2  and the character  3  are characters whose copyrights are not managed. However, there is naturally a desire to form something like the photograph  5  by using a character whose copyright is managed.  
      Besides, in a related art portable printer, a container for containing plural instant films is mounted in the inside of the portable printer, so that images can be printed on the plural instant films. However, when the container is once mounted in the portable printer, thereafter, it is impossible to confirm what kind of instant film is in the container. Thus, for example, even in the case where the expiration date of the instant film has expired, an image can be printed on the instant film, and a photograph with excellent picture quality desired by the user can not be obtained. Besides, even in the case where the kind of the instant film is different from what the user intends, an image can be printed on the instant film, and a photograph desired by the user can not be obtained.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a print control apparatus and a printer which can perform print control so that printing against the intention of the owner of copyright of a character and the intention of a user is not performed.  
      A print control apparatus of the invention is a print control apparatus which performs print control of an image based on image data in a printer, and includes a print medium characteristic information acquisition unit to acquire print medium characteristic information indicating a characteristic of a print medium contained in a print medium container mounted in the printer, a print instruction content information acquisition unit to acquire print instruction content information indicating contents of a print instruction of the image based on the image data to the printer, a judgment unit to judge, based on the print medium characteristic information and the print instruction content information, propriety of printing the image based on the image data, and an output unit to make an output based on the judgment.  
      By this structure, based on the characteristic of the print medium contained in the print medium container mounted in the printer and the contents of the print instruction to the print medium, it is possible to control the propriety of printing the image onto the print medium, and it becomes possible to prevent unintentional printing from being performed by the printer.  
      Preferably, in the print control apparatus of the invention, the print medium characteristic information includes first identification information to identify a first character previously printed on the print medium contained in the print medium container, the print instruction content information includes second identification information to identify a second character included in the image data as a print object to the print medium, and based on print propriety information indicating the propriety of printing the first character and the second character onto a same print medium, the first identification information, and the second identification information, the judgment unit judges the propriety of printing the image based on the image data.  
      By this structure, it becomes possible to prevent printing against the intention of the owner of copyright of the character from being performed.  
      Preferably, in the print control apparatus of the invention, the print medium characteristic information includes print medium kind information indicating a kind of the print medium contained in the print medium container, and the judgment means judges that printing of the image based on the image data can not be performed in a case where a kind of a print medium most suitable for a printing condition indicated by the print instruction content information is not coincident with the kind of the print medium indicated by the print medium kind information.  
      By this structure, it is possible to prevent the image from being printed on the print medium of the kind which is not intended by the user of the printer.  
      Preferably, in the print control apparatus of the invention, the print medium characteristic information includes expiration date information indicating an expiration date of the print medium contained in the print medium container, and the judgment unit judges that printing of the image based on the image data can not be performed in a case where a date when the print instruction indicated by the print instruction content information is issued exceeds the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information.  
      By this structure, it is possible to prevent the image from being printed on the print medium exceeding the expiration date.  
      A printer of the invention is a printer which prints an image based on image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, and includes the print control apparatus, a housing part to house the print medium container, and a reading unit to read the print medium characteristic information from a storage medium provided at the print medium container housed in the housing part, the print instruction content information acquisition unit acquires the print instruction content information from the portable terminal apparatus, and the print medium characteristic information acquisition unit acquires the print medium characteristic information from the reading unit.  
      By this structure, based on the characteristic of the print medium contained in the print medium container mounted in the printer and the print instruction content to the print medium, it is possible to control the propriety of printing the image on the print medium, and it becomes possible to prevent unintentional printing from being performed by the printer.  
      Preferably, a printer of the invention is a printer which prints an image based on image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, and includes the print control apparatus, a housing part to house the print medium container, a reading unit to read the print medium characteristic information from a storage medium provided at the print medium container housed in the housing part, and a storage unit to previously store the print propriety information, the print instruction content information acquisition unit acquires the print instruction content information from the portable terminal apparatus, and the print medium characteristic information acquisition unit acquires the print medium characteristic information from the reading unit.  
      Preferably, a printer of the invention is a printer which prints an image based on image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, and includes the print control apparatus, a housing part to house the print medium container, a reading unit to read the print medium characteristic information from a storage medium provided at the print medium container housed in the housing part, and a print propriety information acquisition unit to acquire the print propriety information from the portable terminal apparatus, the print instruction content information acquisition unit acquires the print instruction content information from the portable terminal apparatus, and the print medium characteristic information acquisition unit acquires the print medium characteristic information from the reading unit.  
      Preferably, a printer of the invention is a printer which prints an image based on image data received from a portable terminal apparatus, and includes the print control apparatus, a housing part to house the print medium container, and a reading unit to read the print medium characteristic information from a storage medium provided at the print medium container housed in the housing part, the print instruction content information acquisition unit acquires the print instruction content information from the portable terminal apparatus, and the print medium characteristic information acquisition unit acquires the print medium characteristic information from the reading unit.  
      Preferably, in the printer of the invention, the print medium container includes a containing part which contains the print medium and a cover part which covers the print medium contained in the containing part and can be detached from the containing part, the storage medium is provided at the cover part, and the reading unit is located in a vicinity of a discharge port for discharging the print medium to an outside of the printer, and reads the print medium characteristic information from the storage medium attached to the cover part when the cover part is removed from the discharge port to the outside in a state where the print medium container is housed in the housing part.  
      By this structure, it becomes possible to realize the reading unit by the simple structure, and it is possible to prevent the size of the printer from increasing.  
      Preferably, in the printer of the invention, the print medium container includes a containing part which contains the print medium and a cover part which covers the print medium contained in the containing part and can be detached from the containing part, the storage medium is provided at the cover part, and the reading unit is located in a vicinity of a discharge port for discharging the print medium to an outside of the printer, and reads the print medium characteristic information and the print propriety information from the storage medium attached to the cover part when the cover part is removed from the discharge port to the outside in a state where the print medium container is housed in the housing part.  
      By this structure, it becomes possible to realize the reading unit by the simple structure, and it is possible to prevent the size of the printer from increasing.  
      In the printer of the intention, the storage medium preferably includes a wireless tag.  
      By this structure, the interpolation of information stored in the storage medium can be prevented.  
      According to the invention, it is possible to provide the print control apparatus which can perform the print control so that the printing against the intention of the owner of copyright of a character and the intention of the user is not performed, and the printer. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a view showing a rough structure of a print system for explaining a first embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a view for explaining an inner block of a cellular phone of the print system for explaining the first embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a view for explaining an inner block of a portable printer of the print system for explaining the first embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 4  is a view showing a rough structure of an instant film.  
       FIG. 5  is a view showing an inner structure of the portable printer of the print system for explaining the first embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 6  is a view showing a rough structure of a container mounted in the portable printer of the print system for explaining the first embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 7  is a view showing a print propriety table.  
       FIG. 8  is a view showing an operation flow of the portable printer for explaining the first embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 9  is a view showing an operation flow of a portable printer for explaining a second embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 10  is a view showing an operation flow of a portable printer for explaining a third embodiment of the invention.  
       FIG. 11  is a view showing a modified example of a storage medium attached to a cover part of a container.  
       FIG. 12A  is a view showing an example of an instant film,  FIG. 12B  is a view showing an example of a frame, and  FIG. 12C  is a view showing a composite photograph. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Hereinafter, a print system for explaining embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.  
     First Embodiment  
       FIG. 1  is a view showing a rough structure of a print system for explaining a first embodiment of the invention. The print system shown in the drawing includes digital content delivery servers  10  and  11  to deliver digital content (image data) including a character requiring copyright management, an Internet  20 , a cellular phone  100  as an example of a portable terminal apparatus, such as a PDA or a cellular phone, connected to the Internet  20 , and a portable printer  200 .  
      In digital content delivered from the digital content delivery servers  10  and  11 , identification information (ID) to identify a character included in the digital content is recorded in, for example, a header of image data.  
       FIG. 2  is a main part block diagram for explaining an inner structure of the cellular phone  100 .  
      As shown in the drawing, the cellular phone  100  includes a communication section  101  connected to the Internet  20  and performing transmission/reception of data, a display  102 , such as an LCD, to display various information, a communication section  103  to communicate with the portable printer  200 , a speaker  104  to output a sound, an imaging section  105  to take a picture of a subject by an imaging device such as a CCD or CMOS image sensor to create photograph image data, a memory  106  such as a flash memory or an EEPROM, and a controller  107  to overall control the respective parts.  
      The communication section  103  communicates with the portable printer  200  by a short distance wireless communication interface such as an infrared communication interface. Incidentally, the communication section  103  may be connected to the portable printer  200  through a communication cable or may be directly connected to the portable printer  200  through mutual connectors to make communication.  
       FIG. 3  is a main part block diagram showing an inner structure of the portable printer  200 .  
      The portable printer  200  includes a communication section  201  communicating with the cellular phone  100 , a detachable/attachable container  202  for containing plural instant films  30  as an example of a print medium, a wireless tag reader  203 , a memory  204 , a printing section  205 , and a controller  206 . In this embodiment, as the instant film  30 , one having the same design as the instant film  1  shown in  FIG. 12  is used.  
      The communication section  201  performs communication with the cellular phone  100  by the short distance wireless communication interface such as the infrared communication interface. Incidentally, the communication section  201  may be connected to the cellular phone  100  through a communication cable or may be directly connected to the cellular phone  100  through mutual connectors to perform communication. Data received by the communication section  201  is inputted to the controller  206 .  
      The container  202  is integrated with an after-mentioned wireless tag  35 . Identification information (ID) to identity a character previously printed on the plural instant films  30  contained in the container  20  is stored in an IC chip embedded in the wireless tag  35 .  
      The wireless tag reader  203  reads the ID written in the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  integrated with the container  202  and inputs it to the controller  206 .  
       FIG. 4  is a view showing a rough structure of the instant film  30 .  
      The instant film  30  includes a photosensitive sheet  31 , an image receiving sheet  32  at the back side of the photosensitive sheet  31 , a developing solution pod  33  which is positioned above the photosensitive sheet  31  and the image receiving sheet  32  and in which a developing solution is enclosed, and a trap part  34  which is positioned under the photosensitive sheet  31  and the image receiving sheet  32  and absorbs a surplus developing solution.  
      Next, the inner structure of the portable printer  200  will be described.  
       FIG. 5  is a sectional view showing the inner structure of the portable printer  200 .  FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing a rough structure of the container  202 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 5 , a pair of spreading rollers  52 , a multi-light emitting head  53 , a housing part  56  for housing the container  202 , a discharge port  54  for the instant films  30 , a battery containing part and a circuit board  55  are provided in an exterior case  51  of the portable printer  200 . With respect to the instant films  30 , the lowermost instant film  30  in the drawing is sent out from an opening  53 B of the container  202  by a not-shown claw mechanism, and is discharged from the discharge port  54  while the developing solution is spread by the pair of spreading rollers  52 .  
      On the other hand, the multi-light emitting head  53  is fixedly disposed below an exposure opening  53 A of the container  202  so that its longitudinal direction crosses the transport direction of the instant film  30  at right angles, emits light in synchronization with the transport operation of the instant film  30  and based on the image data to be printed, and forms a latent image on the instant film  30 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 6 , the container  202  includes a hollow structure containing part  202   a  for containing the plural instant films  30 , and a cover part  202   b  for covering the plural instant films  30  contained in the containing part  202   a . The cover part  202   b  can be detached from the containing part  202   a , and functions as a light shielding member to prevent light from being incident on the photosensitive sheets  31  of the plural instant films  30  from the exposure opening  53 A. The wireless tag  35  is attached to the outside surface of the cover part  202   b . The wireless tag  35  is attached to, for example, an end part of the cover part  202   b  opposite to an end part at the side of the discharge port  54  in a state where the container  202  is housed in the housing part  56 .  
      The wireless tag reader  203  is located in the vicinity of the discharge port  54 . In the state where the container  202  is housed in the housing part  56 , when the user of the portable printer  200  pulls out the cover part  202   b  from the discharge port  54  to the outside, and the wireless tag  35  passes through the vicinity of the wireless tag reader  203 , the wireless tag reader  203  reads the information stored in the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  and inputs it to the controller  206 ,  
      Incidentally, since the detailed structure of the portable printer  200  is disclosed in JP-A-2002-92350, please refer to this.  
      With reference to  FIG. 3  again, the memory  204  stores a print propriety table indicating the propriety of printing a character (hereinafter referred to as a first character) previously printed on the plural instant films  30  contained in the container  202  and a character (hereinafter referred to as a second character) included in digital content delivered from the digital content de livery servers  10  and  11  onto the same instant film  30 . The print propriety table is created by reflecting the intention of the owner of copyright participating in this system.  FIG. 7  is a view showing the print propriety table. The print propriety table is created on the assumption that the owners of copyrights of characters B and C are the same, and the owner of copyright of the characters B and C and the owner of copyright of character A are competitive. Besides, the character A is set such that the plural characters exist in all the world, and each of the characters B and C is set such that only one character exists in all the world.  
      As shown in  FIG. 7 , in “a” of the print propriety table, ┌O┘ is set which indicates that in the case where both the first character and the second character are the ┌character A┘, the first character and the second character can be printed on the same instant film  30 . In this case, since the owners of copyrights of the two characters to be printed are the same, and the character A is not set such that only one character exists in all the world, even if both the first character and the second character are the ┌character A┘, the printing is possible.  
      In “b” of the print propriety table, ┌x┘ is set which indicates that in the case where the first character is the ┌character A┘ and the second character is the ┌character B┘, the first character and the second character can not be printed on the same instant film  30 . In this case, since the owner of copyright of the character A and the owner of copyright of the character B are competitive, the printing is impossible. The same is the case with “c”, “d” and “g” of the print propriety table.  
      In “e” of the print propriety table, ┌x┘ is set which indicates that in the case where both the first character and the second character are the ┌character B┘, the first character and the second character can not be printed on the same instant film  30 . In this case, since the owners of copyrights of the two characters to be printed are the same, it appears that printing should be possible. However, since the character B is set such that only one character exists in all the world, in the case where both the first character and the second character are the ┌character B┘, the printing is impossible. The same is the case with “I” of the print propriety table.  
      In “f” of the print propriety table, ┌O┘ is set which indicates that in the case where the first character is the ┌character B┘ and the second character is the ┌character C┘, the first character and the second character can be printed on the same instant film  30 . In this case, since the owners of copyrights of the character B and the character C are the same, the printing is possible. The same is the case with “h” of the print propriety table.  
      With reference to  FIG. 3  again, the printing section  205  prints an image based on the image data inputted from the controller  206  onto the instant film  30 , and printing is performed by the control of the controller  206 .  
      The controller  206  acquires the ID of the first character from the wireless tag reader  203 , and judges, based on the ID of the first character, the ID of the second character included in the header of the image data included in the print instruction content information indicating the contents of a print instruction acquired through the communication section  201 , and the print propriety table stored in the memory  204 , whether or not the printing of the image based on the image data as the print object can be performed. Then, based on the judgment result, a print instruction is outputted to the printing section  205 , or information notifying that printing is impossible is transmitted to the cellular phone  100  through the communication section  201 . The print instruction content information is information indicating the contents of the print instruction to the portable printer  200 , and includes, for example, image data to be printed, information of printing conditions, information of date when the print instruction is issued, and the like.  
      Hereinafter, an operation of the portable printer  200  will be described. In the following, a description will be given to the operation at the time when the user of the cellular phone  100  downloads a frame (digital content) as shown in  FIG. 12B  from the digital content delivery server  10 , creates original image data in which the image data of a person photographed by the imaging section  105  of the cellular phone  100  is combined with the frame, and printing of the image based on the original image data is performed. Since the original image data is a composite image of the photograph image data and the frame, the ID of the second character remains recorded in the header.  
       FIG. 8  is a view showing an operation flow of the portable printer of the print system for explaining the embodiment of the invention.  
      First, the user puts a new container  202  into the housing part  56  of the portable printer  200 . When the container  202  is housed in the housing part  56 , there occurs a state in which a part of the cover part  202   b  of the container  202  protrudes from the discharge port  54  to the outside as shown in  FIG. 5 . The user pulls the protruding part of the cover part  202   b  with fingers, separates the cover part  202   b  from the container  202 , and takes it out to the outside. At this time, the wireless tag reader  203  of the portable printer  200  reads the ID of the first character from the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  attached to the outside surface of the cover part  202   b , and the controller  206  acquires the ID of the first character read by the wireless tag reader  203  (S 81 ). The controller  206  stores the ID of the first character acquired here into the memory  204 , and after this, until the container  202  is exchanged with a new one, a judgment as to the propriety of printing is made by using the ID of the first character stored in the memory  204 .  
      When the user operates a not-shown operation section of the cellular phone  100  and specifies original image data to be printed, the original image data is transmitted as the print instruction content information from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200 .  
      The controller  206  of the portable printer  200  acquires the original image data through the communication section  201  (S 82 ), and based on the ID of the first character acquired at S 81 , the ID of the second character included in the header of the original image data, and the print propriety table stored in the memory  204 , a judgment is made as to whether or not printing of the image based on the original image data is possible (S 83 ). For example, in the case where the acquired ID of the first character is the ┌character B┘, and the acquire ID of the second character is the ┌character C┘, since the character B and the character C can be printed on the same instant film  30 , it is judged that the printing is possible.  
      In the case where the acquired ID of the first character is the ┌character A┘, and the acquired ID of the second character is the ┌character B┘, since the character A and the character B can not be printed on the same instant film  30 , it is judged that the printing is impossible.  
      By the above judgment, in the case where the printing is possible (S 84 : YES), the controller  206  inputs the original image data to the printing section  205  and issues a print instruction, and performs control to cause the image based on the original image data to be printed on the instant film  30  (S 85 ). By this, the image based on the original image data is printed on the instant film  30 , and the instant film  30  is discharged from the discharge port  54 .  
      By the above judgment, in the case where the printing is impossible (S 84 : NO), the controller  206  does not issue to the printing section  205  the print instruction of the image based on the original image data the printing of which is instructed, creates notification information for notifying that the image based on the original image data the printing of which is instructed can not be printed, and transmits it to the cellular phone  100  through the communication section  201  (S 86 ). By this, on the display  102  of the cellular phone  100 , such a display that ┌Image instructed now can not be printed.┘ is produced. Incidentally, this notification may be performed at the portable printer  200  side, or can also be outputted as a sound.  
      As described above, according to the portable printer  200 , when an image including a character requiring the copyright management is printed on the instant film  30  on which a character requiring the copyright management is previously printed, a judgment as to whether or not the printing is possible is made by using the print propriety table created by reflecting the intention of the owner of copyright of the character. Thus, in the case where printing against the intention of the owner of copyright of the character is about to be performed, the printing can be made not to be performed. Accordingly, the owner of copyright of the character can volunteer to perform the delivery service of a frame image using the character, or the like, and the useful service for both the owner of copyright and the user can be realized.  
      Incidentally, in this embodiment although the example in which the print propriety table for judging the propriety of printing is previously stored in the memory  204  of the portable printer  200  has been described, it may be stored in, for example, the wireless tag  35 , together with the ID of the first character. In this case, the controller  206  has only to acquire the print propriety table together with the ID of the first character at S 81  of  FIG. 8 .  
      Besides, the print propriety table may be stored in the memory  106  of the cellular phone  100 . In this case, when the original image data is transmitted from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200 , the print propriety table is also transmitted, and the controller  206  has only to acquire this through the communication section  201 . When the print propriety table can be downloaded through the Internet  20 , it is possible to immediately cope with a case where a new character appears.  
      Besides, in this embodiment, although the print propriety is judged in the portable printer  200 , this judgment may be performed in the cellular phone  100 . In this case, the print propriety table is stored in the memory  106 , and the controller  107  of the cellular phone  100  makes an acquisition request to the portable printer  200  for the ID of the first character, and in response to this request, the controller  206  of the portable printer  200  transmits the ID of the first character to the cellular phone  100  through the communication section  201 . The controller  107  of the cellular phone  100  having acquired the ID of the first character uses the ID of the second character included in the header of the original image data the printing of which is instructed, the ID of the first character, and the print propriety table stored in the memory  106  and makes a judgment as to the propriety of printing. When the printing is impossible, a predetermined display is produced on the display  102 , and when the printing is possible, the original image data is transmitted from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200  and the printing is made to be performed.  
     Second Embodiment  
      In the print system described in the first embodiment, based on the ID of the character included in the image to be printed by the portable printer  200  and the ID of the character printed on the instant film  30 , it is judged whether or not the image can be printed. In a second embodiment, in the case where the kind of an instant film most suitable for a printing condition of an image to be printed is not coincident with the kind of the instant film  30  contained in the container  202  mounted in the portable printer  200 , the image is made unable to be printed. Since a system structure of the second embodiment is almost equal to the print system described in the first embodiment, only different portions will be described below.  
      Kind information indicating the kind of the instant film  30  contained in the container  202  is stored in the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  attached to the cover part  202   b  of the container  202  attachable/detachable to/from the portable printer  200 . In the instant films  30 , optimum kinds of instant films are prepared for various printing conditions (normal printing, division printing, high quality printing, etc.).  
      Hereinafter, the operation of the portable printer of the print system of the second embodiment will be described.  
       FIG. 9  is a view showing an operation flow of the portable printer of the print system for explaining the second embodiment of the invention.  
      First, the user puts a new container  202  into the housing part  56  of the portable printer  200 . When the container  202  is housed in the housing part  56 , there occurs a state in which a part of the cover part  202   b  of the container  202  protrudes from the discharge port  54  to the outside as shown in  FIG. 5 . The user pulls the protruding part of the cover part  202   b  with fingers, separates the cover part  202   b  from the container  202 , and takes it out to the outside. At this time, the wireless tag reader  203  of the portable printer  200  reads the kind information of the instant film  30  from the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  attached to the outside surface of the cover part  202   b , and the controller  206  acquires the kind information read by the wireless tag reader  203  (S 91 ). The controller  206  stores the kind information acquired here into the memory  204 , and after this, until the container  202  is exchanged with a new one, a judgment as to the propriety of printing is made by using the kind information stored in the memory  204 .  
      When the user operates a not-shown operation section of the cellular phone  100  and specifies original image data to be printed (it is assumed that copyright management is not required for the image data) and a printing condition, the image data and information indicating the printing condition are transmitted as print instruction content information from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200 .  
      The controller  206  of the portable printer  200  acquires the print instruction content information through the communication section  201  (S 92 ), and based on the kind information and the print instruction content information, it is judged whether or not printing of the image based on the image data included in the print instruction content information is possible (S 93 ). In the case where the kind of the instant film  30  indicated by the kind information is coincident with the kind of the instant film which is indicated by the print instruction content information and most suitable for the printing condition, the controller  206  judges that printing is possible, and when not coincident, a judgment that printing is impossible is made.  
      By the above judgment, in the case where the printing is possible (S 94 : YES), the controller  206  inputs the image data and the printing condition to the printing section  205  and issues a print instruction, and performs control to cause the image based on the image data to be printed on the instant film  30  ( 595 ). By this, the image based on the image data is printed on the instant film  30 , and the instant film  30  is discharged from the discharge port  54 .  
      By the above judgment, in the case where the printing is impossible (S 94 : NO), the controller  206  does not issue to the printing section  205  the print instruction of the image based on the image data the printing of which is instructed, creates notification information for notifying that the image based on the image data the printing of which is instructed can not be printed, and transmits it to the cellular phone  100  through the communication section  201  (S 96 ). By this, on the display  102  of the cellular phone  100 , such a display that ┌since the printing condition instructed now is not adapted to the kind of the film mounted in the printer, printing can not be performed.┘ is produced. Incidentally, this notification may be performed at the portable printer  200  side, or can also be outputted as a sound.  
      As described above, according to the portable printer  200  of the second embodiment, in the case where the instant film  30  most suitable for the printing condition specified by the user is not mounted in the portable printer  200 , the image is not printed. Thus, it is possible to prevent such a case that an image is printed on an instant film not suitable for the printing condition specified by the user and a photograph not intended by the user is formed,  
      Incidentally, in the second embodiment, although the propriety of printing is judged in the portable printer  200 , this judgment may be made in the cellular phone  100 . In this case, the controller  107  of the cellular phone  100  makes an acquisition request to the portable printer  200  for the kind information, and the controller  206  of the portable printer  200  transmits the kind information through the communication section  201  to the cellular phone  100  in response to this request. The controller  107  of the cellular phone  100  having acquired the kind information acquires the print instruction content information, and uses the acquired print instruction content information and the kind information to make a judgment as to the propriety of printing. When the printing is impossible, a predetermined display is produced on the display  102 , and when the printing is possible, the image data is transmitted from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200  and the printing is made to be performed.  
     Third Embodiment  
      In the print system described in the first embodiment, based on the ID of the character included in the image to be printed by the portable printer  200  and the ID of the character printed on the instant film  30 , it is judged whether or not the image can be printed. In a third embodiment, in the case where expiration date of an instant film has expired, the image is made unable to be printed. Since a system structure of the third embodiment is almost equal to the print system described in the first embodiment, only different portions will be described below.  
      Expiration date information indicating the expiration date of an instant film contained in the container  202  is stored in the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  attached to the cover part  202   b  of the container  202  attachable/detachable to/from the portable printer  200 . The expiration date is a date when the picture quality of an image printed on the instant film becomes unable to be kept excellent, and is uniquely set by a maker of the instant film.  
      Hereinafter, the operation of the portable printer of the print system of the third embodiment will be described  
       FIG. 10  is a view showing an operation flow of the portable printer of the print system for explaining the third embodiment of the invention.  
      First, the user puts a new container  202  into the housing part  56  of the portable printer  200 . When the container  202  is housed in the housing part  56 , there occurs a state in which a part of the cover part  202   b  of the container  202  protrudes from the discharge port  54  to the outside as shown in  FIG. 5 . The user pulls the protruding part of the cover part  202   b  with fingers, separates the cover part  202   b  from the container  202 , and takes it out to the outside. At this time, the wireless tag reader  203  of the portable printer  200  reads the expiration date information of the instant film  30  from the IC chip of the wireless tag  35  attached to the outside surface of the cover part  202   b , and the controller  206  acquires the expiration date information read by the wireless tag reader  203  (S 101 ). The controller  206  stores the expiration date information acquired here into the memory  204 , and after this, until the container  202  is exchanged with a new one, a judgment as to the propriety of printing is made by using the expiration date information stored in the memory  204 .  
      When the user operates a not-shown operation section of the cellular phone  100  and specifies image data to be printed (it is assumed that copyright management is not required for the image data), the image data and information indicating the date when the print instruction is issued are transmitted as print instruction content information from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200 .  
      The controller  206  of the portable printer  200  acquires the print instruction content information through the communication section  201  (S 102 ), and based on the expiration date information and the print instruction content information, it is judged whether or not printing of the image based on the image data included in the print instruction content information is possible (S 103 ). In the case where the date which is indicated by the print instruction content information and on which the print instruction is issued does not exceed the expiration date indicated by the expiration date information, the controller  206  judges that the printing is possible, and when exceeds, a judgment that the printing is impossible is made.  
      By the above judgment, in the case where the printing is possible (S 104 : YES), the controller  206  inputs the image data to the printing section  205  and issues a print instruction, and performs control to cause the image based on the image data to be printed on the instant film  30  (S 105 ). By this, the image based on the image data is printed on the instant film  30 , and the instant film  30  is discharged from the discharge port  54 .  
      By the above judgment, in the case where the printing is impossible (S 104 : NO), the controller  206  does not issue to the printing section  205  the print instruction of the image based on the image data the printing of which is instructed, creates notification information for notifying that the image based on the image data the printing of which is instructed can not be printed, and transmits it to the cellular phone  100  through the communication section  201  (S 106 ). By this, on the display  102  of the cellular phone  100 , such a display that ┌Since the expiration date of the film mounted in the printer has expired, the image instructed now can not be printed.┘ is produced. Incidentally, this notification may be performed at the portable printer  200  side, or can also be outputted as a sound.  
      As described above, according to the portable printer  200  of the third embodiment, in the case where the expiration date of the instant film  30  has expired, an image is not printed on the instant film. Thus, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of such a situation that an image is printed on the instant film the expiration date of which has expired and a photograph with degraded picture quality is formed.  
      Incidentally, in the third embodiment, although the propriety of printing is judged in the portable printer  200 , this judgment may be made in the cellular phone  100 . In this case, the controller  107  of the cellular phone  100  makes an acquisition request to the portable printer  200  for the expiration date information, and the controller  206  of the portable printer  200  transmits the expiration date information through the communication section  201  to the cellular phone  100  in response to this request. The controller  107  of the cellular phone  100  having acquired the expiration date information acquires the print instruction content information, and uses the acquired print instruction content information and the expiration date information to make a judgment as to the propriety of printing. When the printing is impossible, a predetermined display is produced on the display  102 , and when the printing is possible, the image data is transmitted from the cellular phone  100  to the portable printer  200  and the printing is made to be performed.  
      In the first to the third embodiments, although the structure is such that the print medium characteristic information, such as the ID of the first character, the kind information, or the expiration date information, indicating the characteristics of the plural instant films  30  contained in the container  202  is stored in the wireless tag  35 , and this is read by the wireless tag reader  203 , the invention is not limited to this.  
      For example, instead of the wireless tag  35 , a magnetic label is attached to the outside surface of the cover part  202   b , and print medium characteristic information may be stored in this magnetic label. In this case, a magnetic read sensor is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port  54  of the portable printer  200 , the print medium characteristic information is read by this magnetic read sensor, and the read print medium characteristic information is inputted to the controller  206 .  
      Alternatively, the structure may be such that instead of the wireless tag  35 , plural linear projections  35   a  as shown in  FIG. 11A  are provided on the outside surface of the cover part  202   b , and the print medium characteristic information is made to correspond to the arrangement pattern of the projections  35   a  and is stored. In this case, a projection detection sensor extending in the arrangement direction of the plural linear projections  35   a  is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port  54  of the portable printer  200 , the print medium characteristic information is read by this projection detection sensor, and the read print medium characteristic information is inputted to the controller  206 .  
      Alternatively, the structure may be such that instead of the wireless tag  35 , a barcode label on which a barcode as shown in  FIG. 11B  is printed is pasted on the outside of the cover part  202   b , and print medium characteristic information is made to correspond to the barcode and is stored. In this case, a line sensor extending in the arrangement direction of bars of the barcode is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port  54  of the portable printer  200 , the print medium characteristic information made to correspond to the barcode is read by the line sensor, and the read print medium characteristic information is inputted to the controller  206 . Incidentally, instead of the barcode, a two-dimensional code or a character code may be used. Alternatively, the structure may be such that instead of the barcode label, a color label is provided, and the print medium characteristic information is made to correspond to the color of the color label and is stored.  
      Alternatively, the structure may be such that instead of the wireless tag  35 , plural holes  35   c  as shown in  FIG. 11C  are provided in the outside surface of the cover part  202   b , and the print medium characteristic information is made to correspond to the arrangement pattern of the holes and is stored. In this case, a line sensor extending in the arrangement direction of the plural holes  35   c  is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port  54  of the portable printer  200 , the print medium characteristic information made to correspond to the plural holes is read by this line sensor, and the read print medium characteristic information is inputted to the controller  206 . Incidentally, the plural holes  35   c  are required to be provided at a portion not overlapping with the opening  53 A of the containing part  202   a  so that the instant film  30  in the container  202  is not exposed to light.  
      Alternatively, the structure may be such that the print medium characteristic information stored in the wireless tag  35  is encrypted, and the acquired print medium characteristic information is decrypted in the controller  206 . By doing so, it is possible to prevent the print medium characteristic information from being interpolated.  
      The storage section that performs the function of storing the print propriety table or other foregoing functions is not limited to a hard disk drive, and any well-known equivalent information storage structure may be employed. For example, but not by way of limitation, an optical or magnetic disk, a portable memory storage device but not limited thereto, a remote data storage system, or other data storage structure as would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art may be employed.  
      The controller that performs the function of judging the print propriety or other foregoing functions is not limited to a general purpose computer. As such, the controller may also include a computer-readable medium or a data carrier that contains instructions of the present invention.  
     
       FIG. 1 
     
     
         
           10  DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY SERVER  
           11  DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY SERVER  
           100  CELLULAR PHONE  
           200  PORTABLE PRINTER 
   FIG. 2   
           107  CONTROLLER  
           1058  IMAGING SECTION  
           106  MEMORY  
           101  COMMUNICATION SECTION  
           102  DISPLAY  
           103  COMMUNICATION SECTION  
           104  SPEAKER 
   FIG. 3   
           201  COMMUNICATION SECTION  
           203  WIRELESS TAG READER  
           202  CONTAINER  
           204  MEMORY  
           206  CONTROLLER  
           205  PRINTING SECTION 
   FIG. 7   
          TABLE LETTER SYMBOL  
          FIRST CHARACTER ID  
          SECOND CHARACTER ID  
          PROPRIETY OF PRINTING 
 
  FIG. 8  
 
          START  
          S 81  ACQUIRE FIRST CHARACTER ID  
          S 82  ACQUIRE PRINT INSTRUCTION CONTENT INFORMATION  
          S 83  BASED ON ID OF FIRST CHARACTER, ID OF SECOND CHARACTER, AND PRINT PROPRIETY TABLE, JUDGE WHETHER PRINTING OF INSTRUCTED IMAGE CAN BE PERFORMED  
          S 84  WHETHER PRINTING IS POSSIBLE? 
          S 85  ISSUE PRINT INSTRUCTION TO CAUSE PRINTING TO BE PERFORMED  
          S 86  TRANSMIT TO CELLULAR PHONE  100  INFORMATION NOTIFYING THAT PRINTING CAN NOT BE PERFORMED  
          END 
 
  FIG. 9  
 
          START  
          S 91  ACQUIRE KIND INFORMATION  
          S 92  ACQUIRE PRINT INSTRUCTION CONTENT INFORMATION  
          S 93  BASED ON KIND INFORMATION AND PRINT INSTRUCTION CONTENT INFORMATION, JUDGE WHETHER PRINTING OF INSTRUCTED IMAGE CAN BE PERFORMED  
          S 94  WHETHER PRINTING IS POSSIBLE? 
          S 95  ISSUE PRINT INSTRUCTION TO CAUSE PRINTING TO BE PERFORMED  
          S 96  TRANSMIT TO CELLULAR PHONE  100  INFORMATION NOTIFYING PRINTING CAN NOT BE PERFORMED  
          END 
 
  FIG. 10  
 
          S 101  ACQUIRE EXPIRATION DATE INFORMATION  
          S 102  ACQUIRE PRINT INSTRUCTION CONTENT INFORMATION  
          S 103  BASED ON EXPIRATION DATE INFORMATION AND PRINT INSTRUCTION CONTENT INFORMATION, JUDGE WHETHER PRINTING OF INSTRUCTED IMAGE CAN BE PERFORMED  
          S 104  WHETHER PRINTING IS POSSIBLE? 
          S 105  ISSUE PRINT INSTRUCTION TO CAUSE PRINTING TO BE PERFORMED  
          S 106  TRANSMIT TO CELLULAR PHONE  100  INFORMATION NOTIFYING THAT PRINTING CAN NOT BE PERFORMED  
          END