JP2947221B2 - Electronic blackboard - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic blackboard, and more particularly to an electronic blackboard for reading characters and the like written on a whiteboard with a marker and printing out the same on recording paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional electronic blackboards generally use image information such as characters and figures written on a whiteboard with markers.
The configuration is such that the data is read by a scanner unit and printed out by a printer unit or the like. Further, conventionally, an image written on a sheet is photoelectrically converted by an image sensor and input to a plurality of comparators. In each of the plurality of comparators, for example, red, blue,
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an electronic blackboard having a configuration in which a marker color identification signal is extracted by separately comparing with a voltage corresponding to each marker color of black, converted into a binary value, and printed out by a monochrome printer (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 63). -48050).

Further, when color image data of a basic color and a color other than the basic color is read by a reading unit, and the color image data of the basic color and the color image data other than the basic color are printed by the image processing unit, the image is visually recognized. An electronic blackboard having a configuration in which image processing is performed so that the image can be distinguished and then printed by a printing unit has been conventionally known (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-339473). This allows
Even if a printing unit that prints with only one color is used, the difference in color on a document or a board can be falsely notified.

Further, there is also an electronic blackboard which detects a bar code of an input tool pulled out of the input tool holder to determine the color of the input tool drawn on the input surface of the electronic blackboard pulled out of the input tool holder. It is conventionally known (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-252197).

[0005]

On the electronic blackboard, it is not only necessary to view all the image information written on the whiteboard with the marker, but also in some cases it is desired to make a part of the image information invisible. However, in the conventional electronic blackboard described above, in order to make a part of the image information invisible,
There is no choice but to erase the part or physically hide it with blank paper, etc. If it is erased, it is difficult to return to the original information, and if it is hidden physically with blank paper, it will take too much work There is a problem.

Further, when it is necessary to prevent a part of the image information on the whiteboard from being recorded when printing on a recording paper or the like, a conventional electronic blackboard described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-48050 discloses a whiteboard. A marker color is identified based on the spectral sensitivity of the output of the image sensor at the time of reading the board, sent to the print control unit, and printed in light and shade according to the marker color, using a conventional method described in JP-A-4-339473. An electronic blackboard uses a method of performing image processing for identifying a marker color and obtaining a print result in accordance with the marker color. Using the method of notifying the color of the used marker to the printing side in advance based on the information of (1), the control is performed such that the color of a certain marker is printed and the color of a certain marker is not printed. While thus, it scheme complicated any case, also, there is a problem that the image information can be viewed on the whiteboard, the image information is not printed it is or printed does not match.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
Part of the image information written on the whiteboard can be visually and temporarily erased, and it can be easily restored.Furthermore, there is no special operation for printing on recording paper, etc. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic blackboard capable of outputting image information of an electronic blackboard.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a whiteboard on which desired image information can be written by a marker of an arbitrary color, and an image information obtained by reading image information on the whiteboard. A scanner unit for outputting a binary signal by comparing the read signal with a black-and-white determination level, an output unit for printing out a binary signal output from the scanner unit, a transparent color filter of a specific color, and a white color filter. And a mechanism for selectively arranging or not arranging the color filters with respect to the front surface of the board.

In the present invention, the color filters are arranged or not arranged on the front of the whiteboard.
When a color filter is placed on the front of the whiteboard, the user is prevented from visually recognizing only image information written with markers of the same specific color as the color filter among image information written with markers of each color on the whiteboard. Can be.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a detecting means for detecting whether a color filter is disposed on the front of a whiteboard or not, by a mechanism, and variably controlling a black-and-white determination level according to the detection result. It is characterized by.

According to the present invention, the binary signal obtained by comparing the read signal with the black-and-white determination level is printed out by the output means, and the black-and-white determination level is converted to a color filter on the front of the whiteboard. Since the color filter is variable depending on whether the color filter is arranged or not arranged, the printing result can be changed depending on whether the color filter is arranged on the front of the whiteboard or not arranged.

Further, according to the present invention, the color filter is set to a specific color other than black and white, and the detecting means detects a read signal when detecting that the color filter is arranged on the front of the whiteboard. When the black / white determination level is controlled to an intermediate level between the image information signal portion and the black image information signal portion by a specific color marker, and the color filter detects non-arrangement with respect to the front of the whiteboard, the read signal The black-and-white determination level is controlled on the white image information signal portion side with respect to the image information signal portion by the marker of a specific color inside.

According to the present invention, when the color filter is not arranged on the front surface of the whiteboard, image information written with a marker of the same specific color as the color filter is compared as a black side with respect to the black and white determination level. Therefore, when the image information written with the specific color marker is determined to be the same black as the image information written with the black marker and printed, and when the color filter is placed on the front of the whiteboard, Since the image information written with the marker of the same specific color as the color filter is compared with the white side from the black and white determination level, the image information written with the marker of the specific color is determined as the same white as the whiteboard. Is printed.

[0014]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic perspective views of an electronic blackboard according to an embodiment of the present invention when color filters are not arranged and when color filters are arranged. In both figures, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals. Here, for simplicity of description, it is assumed that the color of the transparent color filter is red, the color of the marker ink to be erased at the time of disposing the color filter is red, and the color of the marker ink not to be erased is black.

In FIG. 1, an electronic blackboard 10 includes a white board 11 having a rectangular flat plate shape, a color filter storage unit 20 provided at an upper end of the white board 11, a slice level changeover switch 30 (not shown), and a white board. A printer unit 40 attached to the lower end of the whiteboard 11 for printing image information on the whiteboard 11 on recording paper;
A scanner section 50 for scanning the image information on the scanner 1 to obtain an electric signal
It is composed of The color filter is wound up and stored in the color filter storage unit 20. Printer section 4
Numeral 0 outputs a recording sheet on which image information on the whiteboard 11 is printed as a print output 41.

In FIG. 1, since the color filters are stored in the color filter storage section 20, they are not arranged on the front of the whiteboard 11. At this time, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the case where the alphabet “A” written in “1” is drawn with a circle surrounded by the red marker ink 62, the user located in front of the whiteboard 11
You can see the figure exactly as written in.

The graphic (image information) written on the whiteboard 11 is read by the scanner unit 50, binarized into black and white, and sent to the printer unit 40. The black marker ink 61 and the red marker ink 62 Are output as the print output 41.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, when the red transparent color filter 22 is pulled out from the color filter storage unit 20 and placed on the front of the whiteboard 11, the user can draw a circle drawn by the red marker ink 62. Cannot be visually recognized, and only the alphabet “A” written with the black marker ink 61 can be viewed. At this time, when the image information on the whiteboard 11 is read by the scanner unit 50, the read image information includes a figure written with the red marker ink 62, but the black-and-white determination level in the scanner unit 50 is set to the slice level. Since the red information is set as white by the changeover switch 30, graphic information written with the red marker ink 62 is not printed on the print output 42.

That is, according to this embodiment, of the image information written on the whiteboard 11, the image information portion written with the red marker ink 62 is visible when the user sees it through the color filter 22. Temporarily erased,
Further, the image information as seen can be output as the print output 42 without any special operation for printing on the recording paper or the like. Further, by storing the color filter 22 in the color filter storage unit 20, as described with reference to FIG.
Graphic information written with the red marker ink 62 can be easily restored.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the electronic blackboard according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. FIG.
1, the scanner unit 50 includes a reading unit 51 and a monochrome level determination unit 52, and the monochrome level of the monochrome level determination unit 52 is controlled by the slice level switch 30.

On the front surface of the white board 11, a red transparent color filter 22 is arranged by a user 70. When the color filters 22 are not used, the structure is such that the color filters 22 can be easily stored in the color filter storage section 20 on the upper front surface of the whiteboard 11. Whether the color filter 22 is in the color filter storage unit 20,
The slice level changeover switch 30 arranged near the color filter storage unit 20 is turned on or off in accordance with whether it is pulled out and arranged on the front surface of the whiteboard 11, and the black and white judgment level of the black and white level judgment unit 52 is changed. Variable control.

The image information written in black marker ink on the white board 11 can be viewed from the user 70 regardless of the arrangement / non-arrangement of the color filter 22, but the image information written in red marker ink is Since the color filter 22 is transparent to red, the user cannot see the color filter 22 when the color filter 22 is disposed on the front surface of the whiteboard 11.

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.
This will be described in detail with reference to the signal waveform diagram of FIG. Image information written on the whiteboard 11 by a known method by the reading unit 51 in the scanner unit 50 is shown in FIG.
The signal is converted into an electric signal (read signal) as shown in FIGS. here,
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4C, the read signal has a red marker ink (red marker) in a signal portion a of image information written in black marker ink (black marker).
Indicates a higher level than the signal portion b of the image information written in. This is because the reflectance of the image information of the black marker is lower than that of the image information of the red marker.

The monochrome level determination section 52 receives the read signal as an input signal, compares the read signal with the monochrome level, and
Outputs a binary signal. Here, the black-and-white determination level is variably controlled by an output signal of a slice level switch 30 that is output in synchronization with whether or not the red-transparent color filter 22 is disposed on the front of the whiteboard 11.

That is, when the color filter 22 is not arranged on the front of the whiteboard 11, the slice level changeover switch 30 is off, and at this time, the above black-and-white determination level is indicated by a broken line I in FIG. Thus, the level is set lower than both the image information signal portion a of the black marker and the image information signal portion b of the red marker. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4B, the black-and-white level determination unit 52 determines the image information signal part a of the black marker and the image information signal part b of the red marker.
Output a black and white binary signal, both of which are determined as black levels.

On the other hand, the color filter 22 is
1, the slice level changeover switch 30 is on. At this time, the black-and-white determination level is set at the image information signal portion a of the black marker as indicated by a broken line II in FIG. And the intermediate level between the image information signal portion b of the red marker and the red marker. For this reason, the black-and-white level determination unit 5
2 outputs a black-and-white binary signal in which the image information signal portion a of the black marker is determined to be at the black level, while the image information signal portion b of the red marker is determined to be at the white level, as shown in FIG. .

Since the printer section 40 is configured to print out the above-described black and white binary signal, the color filter 22
Are not arranged on the front surface of the whiteboard 11, the image information signal portion a of the black marker and the image information signal portion b of the red marker are based on the monochrome binary signal shown in FIG.
Print out as black level, while color filter 2
When 2 is disposed on the front of the whiteboard 11, the image information signal portion b of the red marker is printed out as a white level based on the black and white binary signal shown in FIG.
As a result, image information equivalent to the image information visually recognized on the whiteboard 11 by the user is printed out from the printer unit 40.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and a color other than red, for example, yellow, is selected as the color of the marker ink which can be made invisible to the user. By combining a yellow transparent color filter as a filter, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be expected. Further, the colors of the markers used may be three or more.

In the above-described embodiment, the color filter is a flexible transparent color filter which is stored in or pulled out of the color filter storage unit 20. Of course, as a method of disposing or retracting the color filter, other methods such as attaching and detaching a color filter can be used.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Image information written with a marker of a specific color on the whiteboard can be hidden or shown to the user by selecting whether to arrange a color filter of the same color as the marker on the front of the whiteboard. Therefore, it is possible for the user to switch and display the image information written on the same whiteboard as necessary by a simple operation, and it is also possible to easily return to the original display, and to display the electronic blackboard. The range of use can be improved.

According to the present invention, when the color filter is not arranged on the front surface of the whiteboard, the image information written with the specific color marker is the same as the image information written with the black marker. When determined to be black and printed, and when the color filter is placed against the front of the whiteboard, image information written with a marker of a specific color is determined and printed as white as the whiteboard, It is not necessary to perform any special operation or complicated image processing, and it is possible to print out image information equivalent to what can be seen from the user side on the whiteboard.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an electronic blackboard according to an embodiment of the present invention when color filters are not arranged.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of an electronic blackboard according to an embodiment of the present invention when a color filter is arranged.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic blackboard according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a signal waveform diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electronic blackboard 11 White board 20 Color filter storage part 22 Red transparent color filter 30 Slice level changeover switch 40 Printer part 41, 42 Printer output 50 Scanner part 51 Reading part 52 Black-and-white level judgment part 61 Black marker ink (black marker) 62 Red marker ink (white marker)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A whiteboard in which desired image information can be written by a marker of an arbitrary color, and a read signal obtained by reading the image information on the whiteboard is compared with a black-and-white determination level to be binary. A scanner unit for outputting a signal; an output unit for printing out a binary signal output from the scanner unit; a transparent color filter of a specific color; and selecting the color filter for a front surface of the whiteboard. An electronic blackboard having a mechanism for arranging or not arranging the electronic blackboard. 2. A detecting means for detecting whether the color filter is disposed on the front of the whiteboard or not, by the mechanism, and variably controlling the black-and-white determination level according to the detection result. The electronic blackboard according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The color filter is set to a specific color other than black and white, and when the detection unit detects that the color filter is arranged on the front of the whiteboard, the detection unit reads the color filter. The black-and-white determination level is controlled to an intermediate level between the image information signal portion and the black image information signal portion by the specific color marker in the signal, and the color filter detects non-arrangement with respect to the front surface of the whiteboard. 3. The electronic blackboard according to claim 2, wherein the black-and-white determination level is controlled to be closer to the white image information signal portion than the image information signal portion of the specific color marker in the read signal.