JP2009077306A - Image reading apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading apparatus in which a reading failure caused by a user manipulation is prevented by notifying a user about a state during image reading. <P>SOLUTION: A display control unit 13 controls a display unit 12 to perform control for displaying various information. At the same time, while an image is read by a reading unit 11, reading is controlled so as to increase the area, with a different color or lightness, of a background of a display means as proceeding with reading. For example, while reducing and displaying the image to a read portion, regarding the area to the displayed portion of the image, the color or lightness of the background can be controlled to be different from other areas. Furthermore, when reading is completed, the background is controlled to be changed into the color or lightness different from the color or lightness being used as the background up to the moment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus having display means.

  Conventionally, an image reading apparatus that reads an image on a medium such as a document has been used. For example, a copying machine, a facsimile machine, a multifunction machine, and the like also include the function of an image reading apparatus. In the present invention, these apparatuses are also collectively referred to as an image reading apparatus.

  In a general image reading apparatus, an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) method or an FBS (Flat Bed Scanner) method is used as a reading method. The ADF method is a method in which a one-dimensional sensor is fixed and a document is moved and read. The FBS method is a method of reading an image by moving a one-dimensional sensor or an optical system while fixing a document. In either case, it takes time to read an image for one page. For this reason, a user who cannot wait for the end of reading removes a document in the middle of reading, and there are many cases in which reading fails. In particular, in an FBS type image reading apparatus that moves and reads a one-dimensional sensor or optical system without moving a document, the document is placed on a glass surface called a platen, the cover is closed, the document is pressed, and reading is performed. Start. Since the cover is closed in this way, it is not possible to confirm the reading state such as how far the reading has been performed and whether the reading has been completed. For this reason, the cover is often opened even during reading, and there are frequent cases where the original moves and normal reading cannot be performed.

  For such problems, for example, a measure such as displaying characters such as “copying” or “reading” on the display unit, or notifying with a beep sound at the end of reading is taken. However, since the display by characters is displayed together with other information, the size of the characters is limited and it is difficult to discriminate. Further, since the beep sound does not sound until the reading is completed, the user cannot be notified that the reading is in progress. For this reason, in spite of these measures being taken, there is currently a reading error in which the user moves the document during reading.

  On the other hand, in an apparatus that outputs an image, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, there is a technique for displaying various information on a display background. However, there is almost no error due to the user's operation at the time of output, and the output status can be visually confirmed by the user. On the other hand, there are many obstacles at the time of reading as described above, and the background of the display has not been used to avoid this.

JP 2007-72170 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an image reading apparatus that prevents a reading failure caused by a user operation by notifying a user of a state at the time of image reading. is there.

  The present invention relates to a display means capable of controlling the color or brightness of a background, a reading means for reading an image, and a display for changing the color or brightness of the background of the display means in accordance with the reading progress of the reading means. An image reading apparatus having a control unit.

  The display control means can control the area where the color or brightness of the background varies according to the progress of reading by the reading means, and can change the area where the background color is changed as the reading progresses. At that time, while displaying the image up to the portion read by the reading means, the display can be controlled so that the color or brightness of the background is different for the read portion. Further, when reading is completed, the background may be changed to a color or brightness different from that of the previous one.

  According to the present invention, since the background of the display means changes according to the progress of reading, the user can visually grasp the reading status if referring to the display, and in the middle of reading There is an effect that an erroneous operation can be prevented.

  Further, by displaying an image of the read portion according to the progress of reading, for example, in the case of a document placement error, it is possible to know at an early stage, and there is an effect that reading errors can be reduced. .

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a reading unit, 12 is a display unit, and 13 is a display control unit. The reading unit 11 reads an image from a reading target such as a document. The reading method is arbitrary, and may be, for example, an FBS method or an ADF method, or a configuration in which both methods can be used.

  The display unit 12 displays various information according to control by the display control unit 13. When displaying, the background color or brightness can be controlled.

  The display control unit 13 controls the display unit 12 to display various kinds of information. When the reading unit 11 reads an image, the display control unit 13 controls the display unit 13 according to the reading progress. Control to change the background color or brightness.

  The background color or brightness can be controlled so that, for example, in a state where normal information is displayed, the area of a region having a different background color or brightness is increased as reading progresses. . Alternatively, the image up to the read portion may be displayed, and the background color or brightness of the region up to the display portion of the image may be controlled to be different from other regions. In any case, the background color may be changed according to the progress of reading using the entire display area of the display unit 12 during reading. Thereby, it is possible to easily and intuitively inform the user of the progress of reading.

  When displaying the read image portion, the read image portion may be reduced and displayed on the display unit 12. Since the outline of the read image can be understood even if the image is reduced, the user can determine whether or not the desired image has been read. For example, when the image is bent, or when a blank image is read with the document placed upside down, the user can quickly see such a state by referring to the reduced image part in the middle of reading. I can grasp it. If it is determined that the reading error has occurred, the user can prevent the reading error by taking appropriate measures such as immediately stopping the reading.

  When reading is completed, control is performed to change the background to a color or brightness different from the color or brightness that has been used as the background. Thus, the user can be notified of the end of reading.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation in the embodiment of the present invention. Here, a display process after an instruction to start reading by the reading unit 11 is given by the user is shown. In the following description, an example in which an image of a read portion is reduced and displayed together with the reading of the image is shown. Further, the progress of reading is indicated by the first color and the second color, and the display control unit 13 controls the display unit 12 so that the area of the first color increases as reading progresses.

  When the user gives an instruction to start reading, in S21, the display area of the display unit 12 is controlled to be in an initial state for image reading. For example, a frame of the document size to be read is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 12 and the background color is initialized to the second color.

  In S22, the reading unit 11 reads an image for N lines on the document. If the number of lines read here is set to be reduced to one or several lines for display when an image is displayed on the display unit 12, it is efficient.

  When the reading unit 11 reads the N-line image, in S23, the image portion read so far is reduced and displayed on the display unit 12, and in S24, the background of the image area displayed in S23 is set to the first background. Make color. For other regions, the background is set to the second color in S25.

  In S26, it is determined whether or not the reading has been completed. If the reading has not been completed, the process returns to S22, where the reading unit 11 reads the next N lines and the display control unit 13 controls the display. Do.

  By repeating such a process, as the reading by the reading unit 11 proceeds, the number of displayed image parts increases, and the area where the background is displayed in the first color also increases. Therefore, it is possible to inform the user of the progress of reading. Even if it is difficult to understand the progress of reading because the user closes the cover in the FBS method, for example, the user can know the progress of reading by referring to such a display. In particular, by displaying the progress of reading using the entire display screen, it is possible to strongly appeal to the user as compared with the case where the progress of reading is transmitted by character display or a small LED lamp. Therefore, it is possible to prevent reading failure due to the user opening the cover during reading.

  Further, it is possible to know whether or not the read image is a desired one by referring to the reduced image that is gradually displayed although it is partially displayed. For example, when the user recognizes that the desired image has not been read, such as when the image is tilted, in a blank sheet state, or when the document is incorrect, reading may be stopped at that point.

  When the reading is completed, in S27, the background of the display unit 12 is changed to a third color different from the first color and the second color, and the end of reading is notified to the user. At this time, a display method for appealing the user to the end of reading such as blinking the background may be used in combination. This notifies the end of reading and also notifies the user that the document has been forgotten to be removed. Further, after the reading is finished, the display screen is kept as it is, and when the read original is removed, the background color of the display unit 12 is further changed to a fourth color, or the display screen at the time of reading is restored. The display may be controlled. It should be noted that the removal of the read original may detect a user action that can be assumed to be that the original is removed, such as when the cover is opened.

  The background color or brightness of the first color, the second color, the third color, or the like is arbitrary. For example, the first color may be red, the second color may be die dye or blue, and the third color may be brightened.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a first example of the display screen being read. In this example, a display example when the image reading apparatus of the present invention is configured as a part of a facsimile apparatus is shown, and the background is changed according to the reading progress state while the normal display is performed on the display unit 12. An example is shown. When an image is transmitted by the facsimile apparatus, the image on the original is read by the reading unit 11 and the image is transmitted by facsimile. In the example of the display screen of the display unit 12 shown in FIG. 3, buttons for setting various functions at the time of facsimile transmission, buttons for selecting a destination registered in advance, and the like are displayed. The user designates a destination and the like, and operates a start button after setting a document to be transmitted on the reading unit 11. By operating the start button, reading of an image on the document by the reading unit 11 is started.

  In this example, for example, the progress of reading is displayed using the entire display screen. Here, the left end is set to 0%, the right end is set to 100%, and the degree of reading is completed by changing the background according to the reading progress. The hatched portion on the left side in the figure is the portion where the background color or brightness has been changed by the progress of reading. As the reading of the image by the reading unit 11 progresses, the area of the area where the background color or brightness is changed increases. In this example, as the image reading progresses, the boundary having a different background color or brightness moves to the right. When the reading is completed, the background color or brightness of the entire display area is changed.

  In recent years, the display area of the display unit 12 is steadily expanding, and since the progress of reading is displayed using the entire wide display area, it is possible to strongly notify the user that reading is in progress. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent reading failure due to a user's erroneous operation.

  When reading is completed, the background color or brightness is further changed, or the background color is further blinked. This notifies the user of the end of reading and prompts the user to remove the document. When the document is removed or the cover is opened, the background of the display area is returned to the state before the operation of the start button, so that the next document can be read.

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, an example of displaying the progress of reading in a bar graph is shown. However, for example, the center of the display area is centered and spread like a pie chart in accordance with the progress of reading. Various display forms such as display may be applied.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a second example of the display screen being read. In this example, an example in which the image portion read by the reading unit 11 is reduced and displayed is shown. A rectangle indicating the reading size is shown inside the display screen, and a part of the image read so far is displayed in a reduced size. In the reading start state, the reduced image is not displayed in the rectangle, and there is no portion having a different background color or brightness with hatching.

  If the user instructs the start of reading, the operation described with reference to FIG. 2 is started, and each time the reading unit 11 reads N lines, the image portion read so far is reduced and displayed, and the image portion is displayed. Change the color or brightness of the area background. The state shown in FIG. 4 shows a state where about 30% of the image has been read. About 30% of the images read so far are reduced and displayed, and the color or brightness of the hatched background where the image is displayed is changed. In this example, the image portion read from the left side of the area corresponding to the read size indicated by the rectangle is reduced and displayed, and the background color or brightness is changed.

  As the reading progresses, the number of read image portions increases, and accordingly, the area where the background color or brightness is changed also increases. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the read image portion is reduced and displayed, and the boundary of the region where the background color or brightness is changed gradually moves to the right.

  Since the gradually reduced image can be seen in this way, the user can determine whether or not the read image is desired by referring to the displayed image. If it is determined during reading that the image being read is not what is desired, an operation for stopping the reading may be performed at that time. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an undesired image from being read and to stop reading before the reading is completed.

  Then, when the reading is completed, the read image is reduced and displayed. At the same time, the background color or brightness of the entire reduced image is changed. Similarly to the description using FIG. 3 described above, when the reading is completed, the background color or brightness is further changed, or the background color is further blinked. This notifies the user of the end of reading and prompts the user to remove the document. When the document is removed or the cover is opened, the background of the display area may be returned to the state before the start button is operated to prepare for the reading of the next document.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement in one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the 1st example of the display screen in reading. It is explanatory drawing of the 2nd example of the display screen in reading.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Reading part, 12 ... Display part, 13 ... Display control part.

Claims (4)

  Display means capable of controlling the color or brightness of the background, reading means for reading an image, and display control means for changing the color or brightness of the background of the display means in accordance with the reading progress of the reading means An image reading apparatus.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit controls an area in which a background color or brightness varies according to a progress of reading by the reading unit.   The display control unit is configured to display the image up to the read portion while reading the image with the reading unit, and to change the background color or brightness of the region up to the display portion of the image from other regions. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   When the reading of the image by the reading unit is completed, the display control unit changes the background to a color or brightness different from the color or brightness used as the background while reading the image. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1.

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