JP5182056B2 - Image processing apparatus, image processing method, image processing program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium, and more particularly, to a copying apparatus, a composite apparatus, a scanner apparatus, a facsimile apparatus, etc. that efficiently perform image processing on input image data. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium.

  In an image processing apparatus such as a copying apparatus, a composite apparatus, a scanner apparatus, or a facsimile apparatus, input image data, for example, image data read by a scanner section, an external storage section (for example, a hard disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only) Memory), DVD (Digital Video Disk), SD (Secure Digital) card, etc.) image data read from the image data, and temporarily stored in RAM (Random Access Memory) or a temporary storage memory such as a hard disk The image data stored in the temporary storage memory is subjected to necessary image processing again, sent to a printer unit for recording output, transferred to a computer or the like via a network, or used for facsimile transmission. Output processing is performed (see Patent Document 1).

  Such a conventional image processing apparatus is configured as a block, for example, as a composite apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 24. The composite apparatus 1000 includes an image data bus 1001, an image input unit 1002, an image processing unit 1003, and an image. An output unit 1004, a memory 1005, a hard disk (HDD) 1006, an external I / F control unit 1007, and the like are connected. A network interface card (NIC) 1008, a FAX unit 1009, an operation unit 1010, and the like are connected to the external I / F control unit 1007. Further, as illustrated in FIG. Unit) 1011, a control memory 1012, a memory control unit 1013, a memory medium unit 1014, and the like, and each unit is connected by a control bus 1015. 25, the memory medium unit 1014 is a general term for the memory 1005 and the hard disk 1006 in FIG. 24, and the control memory 1012 is a control program such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Access Memory). Store the necessary system data. In the multifunction apparatus 1000, the CPU 1011 controls each unit of the multifunction apparatus 1000 based on a program stored in the control memory 1012 and executes each operation of the multifunction apparatus 1000. That is, the composite apparatus 1000 stores image data input from an image input unit 1002 such as a scanner unit that reads an image of a document by performing main scanning and sub-scanning on the document in a temporary memory 1005, processing timing of image data, and the like. Accordingly, the image is read from the memory 1005 with the operating frequency and internal image format inside the multifunction apparatus 1000, and the image processing unit 1003 sets the image quality according to the image quality set and operated by the operation unit 1010 and the output destination characteristics. Processing is performed and the hard disk 1006 is stored. The multifunction apparatus 1000 also processes image data received from an external apparatus such as a computer via a network connected to the NIC 1008 and facsimile image data received by the FAX section 1009 by the image processing section 1003 via the memory 1005. After that, it is stored in the hard disk 1006.

  The composite apparatus 1000 reads out the image data stored in the hard disk 1006 at a predetermined timing, performs necessary image processing in the image processing unit 1003, prints out the image output unit 1004, and outputs it to the NIC 1008. Image output processing such as transmission to an external device such as a connected computer or transmission from the FAX unit 1009 to facsimile transmission is performed.

  As the image processing unit 1003, for example, as shown in FIG. 26, a shading correction unit 1003a, an input γ correction unit 1003b, a filter unit 1003c, a color correction unit 1003d, an output γ correction unit 1003e, a gradation processing unit 1003f, etc. It has. The shading correction unit 1003a corrects the light amount unevenness of the light source of the image input unit 1002 and the variation in the light receiving sensitivity of the CCD, corrects the output of the CCD to a constant level, and corrects white and black to read white. So that the reference white and black are read and the reference black is obtained. The input γ correction unit 1003b converts the reflectance linear RGB image signal read by the image input unit 1002 into a density linear RGB image signal. Specifically, the input γ correction unit 1003b corrects RGB input data read by the image input unit 1002 to appropriate RGB data using a conversion table for three colors. The filter unit 1003c determines a smoothing filter process for removing moire or the like generated from a periodic shift between a period of halftone dots or the like of an original image and a sampling period of the image input unit 1002, and determines a character part and a photograph part of the image. Then, emphasis filter processing (MTF correction) for sharpening only the character portion is performed. The color correction unit 1003d converts an image read by the image input unit 1002 using RGB data, for example, Y (yellow), C (cyan), M (magenta), and K which are color materials of the image output unit 1004 such as a printer. If the image output unit 1004 is an RGB display, the RGB data is converted in accordance with the display color characteristics of the RGB display. The output γ correction unit 100e has the same configuration as the input γ correction unit 1003b, and when outputting to the image output unit 1004 such as a printer using YCMK color material, a table for four colors of YCMK is used. The gray or color balance of the output image is corrected in accordance with the image density characteristics of the image output unit 1004. The gradation processing unit 1003f performs processing for maintaining the gradation of the image, binary dither processing using a dither matrix, multi-value dither processing, and the like.

  That is, an image processing apparatus such as the conventional composite apparatus 1000 stores image data in an image storage unit (memory) such as the hard disk 1006, and then appropriately reads the image data from the image storage unit and performs image processing in the image processing unit. Image processing according to image characteristics is handled in common, and processing control is simplified and speeded up.

JP 2004-48113 A

  However, in the above prior art, the image data input from the image input unit can be used for output by appropriately performing necessary image processing in the image processing unit using a memory medium. Data amount and data type using image processing corresponding to a plurality of application functions such as a scanner, a printer, a facsimile (FAX), etc. are increasing at an accelerating rate, and there is an increasing demand for integrated and simultaneous processing of these applications. Yes. In order to respond to such a request, for example, in the case of the composite apparatus 1000, as shown in FIG. 27, an image input arbitration unit 1020 and a plurality of image processing units 1003a to 1003d are provided, and a plurality of image input arbitration units 1020 are provided. The image input units 1002a to 1002d are connected. The image input from the plurality of image input units 1002a to 1002d is arbitrated by the image input arbitration unit 1020, temporarily stored in the memory 1005, and then sequentially processed by the plurality of image processing units 1003a to 1003. It has been attempted to improve the efficiency of image input and image processing.

  However, in such an image processing apparatus that repeatedly performs memory access and image processing, when a large amount of image data is input, access to the image data stored in the memory frequently occurs and the control becomes complicated. At the same time, while image data is read from the memory and image processing is being performed by the image processing unit, image input from the image input unit cannot be performed, and there is a problem that efficiency is poor. Further, further productivity is demanded, and an image processing apparatus that includes a plurality of image input units and reads a plurality of image data has a problem that the processing efficiency further deteriorates and the production efficiency further decreases.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium that efficiently input and process image data.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides image input request information including the number of image data input requests accompanied by predetermined image processing and image processing characteristics requested to be executed for the image data of the image input request. Managing and accepting the image input requests in a predetermined order based on the image input request information, determining an image processing stage to be executed on the image data, and performing a plurality of image processing on the received image data Independently controlling the means, performs the image processing up to the determined image processing stage and stores it in the image data storage means, and the image processing of the image data stored in the image data storage means is interrupted halfway The image processing incomplete image processing is read out, and a plurality of image processing means are independently controlled to execute the incomplete image processing on the image data based on the image input request information. It is characterized in that.

  Further, the present invention provides image processing completion stage information indicating the stage of completion of image processing in the image processing according to the image processing characteristics relating to the image data stored in the image data storage unit together with the image processing characteristics. The image processing related information storage means stores the image data in association with the image data, and the image processing related information storage means corresponds to the image data for image data that has not been processed yet. The incomplete image processing may be executed on the basis of the image processing related information and the image input request information stored.

  According to the present invention, input of image data and image processing can be performed efficiently even when a plurality of image input requests are generated.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, since the Example described below is a suitable Example of this invention, various technically preferable restrictions are attached | subjected, However, The range of this invention is unduly limited by the following description. However, not all the configurations described in the present embodiment are essential constituent elements of the present invention.

  1 to 23 are diagrams showing an embodiment of an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, an image processing program, and a recording medium according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image according to the present invention. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a composite apparatus 1 to which an embodiment of a processing program and a recording medium is applied. FIG.

  In FIG. 1, the composite apparatus 1 includes a plurality of image input units 2 a to 2 n, an image input arbitration unit 3, an image input operation rate detection unit 4, an image output unit 5, an external I / F control unit 6, a NIC 7, and a FAX unit 8. , An operation unit 9, a first image processing control unit 10, a second image processing control unit 11, an input characteristic information memory 12, a plurality of image processing units 13a to 13n, hard disks (HDD) 14a and 14b, etc. The image input arbitration unit 3, the image input operation rate detection unit 4, the image output unit 5, the external I / F control unit 6, the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing control unit 11 are connected to a bus 15. Yes.

  A network 16 is connected to the NIC 7. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, external image input units 17 a to 17 n such as computers, scanner devices, and other composite devices are connected to the network 16. . The NIC 7 communicates with devices connected to the network 16, in particular, with the image input units 17a to 17e, and receives image data from the image input units 17a to 17n. In FIG. 2, a computer that creates and edits image data or reads image data from a CD, DVD, SD card, or the like as the image input units 17a and 17b. In this example, the scanner device that reads the image data of the document is connected to the network 16 as the image input units 17d and 17m. These image input units 2 a to 2 n transmit the read image data and the edited / created image data to the composite apparatus 1 via the network 16. The connection to the network 16 is not limited to the image input units 17a to 17e, and an image output unit may also be connected.

  The image input units 2a to 2n are a scanner unit, a storage medium reading unit that reads a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, and an SD card. The scanner unit is, for example, a scanner unit 2s as shown in FIG. Used. The scanner unit 2s includes an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) 20, a contact glass 21, an optical scanning unit 22, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) unit 23, an image output I / F 24, and the like. The set originals G are passed one by one through the reading position of the contact glass 21 by the optical scanning unit 22, and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray of the ADF 21. The CCD unit 23 includes a light source 25 such as a xenon lamp, a mirror 26, and the like, and is arranged to be movable in the main scanning direction (left and right direction in FIG. 3). The reading position on the contact glass 21 is set by the ADF 21. The original G to be conveyed is irradiated with reading light from the light source 25, and the reading light reflected from the original G is reflected to the CCD unit 23 by the mirror 26. The CCD unit 23 includes a lens 27, a CCD 28, a scanner image processing unit 29, and the like, and condenses reading light from the optical scanning unit 22 on the CCD 28 by the lens 27. The CCD 28 photoelectrically converts the incident reading light to convert it into digital image data (for example, 8-bit digital image data), and then outputs it to the scanner image processing unit 29. The scanner image processing unit 29 performs various image processing such as image data variation correction due to individual differences of the CCD 28 and outputs the processed image data to the image input arbitration unit 3 via the image output I / F 24.

  The image input arbitration unit 3 arbitrates a plurality of image data transfers based on the image transmission protocol from the plurality of image input units 2a to 2n, and performs image input requests from the image input units 2a to 2n. The data is output to the rate detection unit 4, and the image data is received from the image input units 2 a to 2 n and transferred to the first image processing control unit 10.

  A line such as a public telephone line is connected to the FAX unit 8, and the FAX unit 8 transmits the image data received via the external I / F control unit 6 by facsimile to a facsimile apparatus or the like connected to the line. In addition, the image data received by facsimile via the line is transferred to the external I / F control unit 6. The FAX unit 8 functions as an image input unit (image input unit), and outputs a facsimile reception request to the image input operation rate detection unit 4 as an image input request via the external I / F control unit 6 for facsimile reception. The processed image data is transferred to the first image processing control unit 10 via the bus 15.

  The operation unit 9 is provided with operation keys for inputting various commands to be operated by the multifunction apparatus 1, and further includes a storage medium reading unit that reads a storage medium such as a CD, DVD, or SD card. The operation unit 9 outputs an input request for image data read by the storage medium reading unit in response to a key operation to the image input operation rate detection unit 4 through the external I / F control unit 6 as an image input request. The image data read by the storage medium reading unit is transferred to the first image processing control unit 10 via the bus 15. The image input units 2a to 2n, the image input units 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8, and the operation unit 9 function as an image input unit as a whole.

  The image input operation rate detection unit 4 receives image input requests from the image input units 2a to 2n via the image input arbitration unit 3, and also receives image input units 17a to 17n via the image I / F control unit 6. Then, an image input request from the FAX unit 8 is entered, and further, an image data input request from a medium such as a CD, DVD, SD card provided in the operation unit 9 is entered. The image input operation rate detection unit 4 detects the presence or absence of image input requests from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9, and the image input requests generated at the same time. An operation rate (image input request amount) indicating whether an image input request is generated is calculated and output to the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing control unit 11. The operating rate is the number of image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, FAX unit 8 and operation unit 9 among the plurality of image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, FAX unit 8 and operation unit 9. The image input request amount is calculated based on whether there is an image input request or how many image input requests are generated within a unit time. The image input image rate detection unit 4 is arranged independently of the image bus 15 and is configured to be able to accurately calculate the current image input operation rate as needed.

  The image output unit 5 is a printer unit that prints and outputs image data stored in the hard disks 14a and 14b on paper, and a display unit that displays the data. The printer unit is, for example, a printer unit 30 as shown in FIG. Is used. In FIG. 4, a printer unit 30 is an electrophotographic printer unit, and includes a video I / F 31, a printer image processing unit 32, a laser unit 33, a photosensitive drum 34, a primary charger 35, a developing unit 36, and a transfer unit. 37, a cleaning unit 38, a charge eliminating unit 39, a transport belt 40, a fixing device 41, a paper feed unit 42, a paper transport unit 43, and the like. The printer unit 30 subjects the image data input from the video I / F 31 to image processing according to the characteristics of the plotter unit 30 by the printer image processing unit 32 and sends the image processing to the laser unit 33. A laser beam (LB) modulated based on the image data is applied to the photosensitive drum 35 that is driven to rotate clockwise in FIG. 4 to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 35. The printer unit 30 develops toner by attaching toner from the developing unit 36 to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 35 on which the electrostatic latent image has been formed, in accordance with the charge amount, thereby forming a toner image. The printer unit 30 feeds transfer sheets stored in the sheet feeding unit 42 one by one from the sheet feeding unit 42 to the sheet conveying unit 43, and conveys the sheet between the photosensitive drum 35 and the transfer unit 37 by the sheet conveying unit 43. . The printer unit 30 uses the transfer unit 37 to transfer the toner image on the photoconductive drum 35 onto a transfer sheet conveyed between the photoconductive drum 35 and the transfer unit 37. When printing the color image, the printer unit 30 rotates the transfer paper along the transfer unit 37 when the toner image of the first color among the colors YCMK (yellow, cyan, magenta, black) is transferred. Then, the transfer operation is performed again with respect to all the colors by transferring the toner image of the next color to the photosensitive drum 34, and when the transfer of the color toner image onto the transfer sheet is completed, the transport belt 40 is completed. As a result, the transfer sheet on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing device 41. The fixing device 41 heats and presses the transfer sheet on which the toner image is transferred, fixes the toner image on the transfer sheet, and discharges the transfer sheet on which the fixing is completed onto the discharge tray 44.

  The external I / F control unit 6 is connected to a NIC 7, a FAX unit 8, an operation unit 9, and the like. The external I / F control unit 6 communicates with each of these units 7 to 9 to transmit and receive data, and the image input unit. 17a to 17n, the image input request from the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9 are output to the image input operation rate detection unit 4.

  The image processing units 13a to 13n are independently controlled in operation by the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing control unit 11, respectively, and perform various image processings independently on the image data, thereby operating instructions. To the first image processing control unit 10 or the second image processing control unit 11. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the image processing units 13a to 13n include an input correction processing unit 13a, a density conversion processing unit 13b, an image recognition processing unit 13c, an image rotation processing unit 13d, an output correction processing unit 13e, and a compression / decompression process. The input correction processing unit 13a includes image data input from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9 according to the characteristics of the input image data. The distortion of the color characteristic and the gradation characteristic is corrected and converted into image data that can be processed by the composite apparatus 1. The density conversion processing unit 13b converts the density of the image data in accordance with the designation from the operation unit 9 and the output conditions of the FAX unit 8 and the destination device, and the image recognition processing unit 13c Detecting parts, etc., processing to improve the sharpness of the characters in the character part, processing to improve the gradation of the photograph in the photograph part, or that the read image is a securities etc. Then, the image recognition process is performed to prevent unauthorized copying by performing the detection. For example, when the read image is a vertically long image such as A4 portrait and the output request source requests a horizontally long output such as A4 landscape, the image rotation processing unit 13d performs 90. The output correction processing unit 13e converts the color characteristics and gradation characteristics of the image data according to the characteristics of the output device (for example, the image output unit 5), and compresses the image. For example, the decompression processing unit 13f compresses the image data in order to improve the storage efficiency when storing it in the hard disks 14a and 14b, or conversely decompresses the compressed image data back to the original image data. I do.

  Referring back to FIG. 1 again, the input characteristic information memory 12 stores the image characteristics of the image data input from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8, and the operation unit 9 (for example, the gamma characteristic of the input device). Etc.), various image processing contents designated by the operator from the operation unit 9 (for example, enlargement / reduction image processing designation, rotation image processing designation, etc.) are stored, and the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing are stored. It is read by the control unit 11 and used as image conversion information and image processing information when each of the image processing units 13a to 13n performs processing.

  That is, as will be described later, the first image processing control unit 10 determines the image processing stage based on the operation rate of the image input request, and the image processing units 13a to 13a for the input image data at the determined image processing stage. The image processing at 13n is interrupted halfway and temporarily stored in the hard disk 14a, and the second image processing control unit 11 reads the interrupted and incomplete image processing from the hard disk 14a, and the image processing units 13a to 13n. In order to perform the subsequent image processing, image input characteristics (images) input as information to be processed on the image data by the first image processing control unit 10 are performed. Input request information: image conversion information, image processing information) and image processing interruption information (up to the last time image processing has been performed by the image processing units 13a to 13n) ( The image processing completion stage information), it is necessary to store in connection with the image data. Therefore, the input characteristic information memory 12 associates the processing interruption information with the job file of the image data interrupted halfway under the control of the first image processing control unit 10 and writes it in the file header as supplementary information. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, an image file of an image processing job is composed of a header part and a data part (main part), and the header part includes a file name (job name), image input characteristic information (image conversion information, image data). Processing information) and image processing interruption information are stored, and thereafter, the address of the hard disk 14a in which the data portion (main body portion) of the file is stored. The storage location of the image data that is the main body is specified from this address, and if the image processing job is an image processing job that interrupted the image processing, or if it was an interrupted image processing job, where the image processing was interrupted Can be known from the header information associated with the image data. Therefore, the job file of the image processing job is stored in the input characteristic information memory 12 as an image processing interruption job file table, and when the number of input requests (image input requests) of the image processing job decreases, the image processing job is again processed. When resuming, an image processing job to be executed quickly is selected so that the re-image processing start position can be determined. Note that, even if the image processing job is interrupted in the middle, the processing is not interrupted in the middle of the page. For the image processing that has started execution by the image processing units 13a to 13n, the image is processed for all pages. Regarding the image processing that has been completed and is image processing that should be executed but has been stopped from the operation rate, no image processing has been performed on the image data of any page.

  The hard disk 14a, 14b is written and read by the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing control unit 11, and is independently accessed to write and read the image data.

  The first image processing control unit 10 is connected to the input characteristic information memory 12, the plurality of image processing units 13a to 13n, and the hard disks 14a and 14b so as to be able to transmit and receive in full duplex. The image processing information is read out, and the image processing in each of the image processing units 13a to 13n for the image data input from the bus 15 is controlled based on the image conversion information and the image processing information. The first image processing control unit 10 receives image data that has been subjected to image processing by the respective image processing units 13a to 13n from the respective image processing units 13a to 13n, and the next image processing unit 13a according to the determined image processing procedure. To 13n or the hard disk 14a.

  The second image processing control unit 11 is connected to the input characteristic information memory 12, the plurality of image processing units 13a to 13n, and the hard disks 14a and 14b so as to be able to transmit and receive in full duplex. The image processing information is read out, and the image processing in each of the image processing units 13a to 13n for the image data read out from the hard disk 14a is controlled based on the image conversion information and the image processing information. The second image processing control unit 11 receives image data that has been subjected to image processing by the respective image processing units 13a to 13n from the respective image processing units 13a to 13n, and the next image processing unit 13a according to the determined image processing procedure. To 13n or the hard disk 14b.

  The composite device 1 includes a ROM, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM, a flash memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a CD-RW (Compact Disc Rewritable), a DVD ( An image processing control program for executing the image processing control method of the present invention recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a digital video disk (SD), a secure digital (SD) card, or an MO (Magneto-Optical Disc) is read. It is constructed as an image processing apparatus that executes an image processing control method for efficiently processing an image input request to be described later by being installed in a ROM, a hard disk, or the like. This image processing control program is a computer-executable program written in a legacy programming language such as assembler, C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark) or an object-oriented programming language, and is stored in the recording medium. And can be distributed.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The composite apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of image input requests 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, a fax unit 8 and an operation rate of image input requests from the operation unit 9, and a plurality of image input requests. The image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13n is appropriately controlled. In the following description, a buffer area for one image processing job is provided in the hard disk 14a, and only one image processing job is buffered in the buffer area of the hard disk 14a. A buffer area for one job or more may be provided to buffer image data of one or more image processing jobs in the buffer area of the hard disk 14a.

  That is, the composite apparatus 1 accepts image data input requests from a large number of image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9, and the image input units 2a to 2n provided in the composite apparatus 1 For the image input arbitration unit 3, the image input request is arbitrated, and the image input request is output to the image input operation rate detection unit 4, and the other image input units 17 a to 17 n, FAX unit 8, and operation The unit 9 outputs an image input request to the image input operation rate detecting unit 4 via the external I / F control unit 6.

  The image input operation rate detection unit 4 detects the presence or absence of image input requests from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9, and the image input requests generated at the same time. An operation rate indicating whether an image input request is generated is calculated and output to the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing control unit 11.

  The first image processing control unit 10 stores an operation rate corresponding image processing execution table as shown in FIG. 7 in the internal nonvolatile memory. In FIG. 7, the number of jobs waiting for input is the number of image processing jobs requested for image input in the input waiting state detected by the image input operation rate detecting unit 4, and the image input is input of image data of the jobs waiting for input. Is stopped, the input is stopped for the image processing job, execution J1 is the input execution of the image processing job located at the head of the input waiting jobs, and buffering J2 is the input waiting job The execution of buffering to the HDD 14a of the second image processing job is shown. Image processing GS1 to GS4 indicate image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13d. Stopping the image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13d means stopping or executing the image processing units 13a to 13d. The execution of image processing in FIG. Then, the first image processing control unit 10 refers to the operation rate corresponding image processing execution table based on the operation rate from the image input operation rate detection unit 4 and executes an image processing execution plan (image processing) of the job waiting for input. Execution plan) is determined, and image processing of the image processing job is executed based on the image processing execution plan.

  Further, the second image processing control unit 11 stores an operation rate corresponding re-image processing execution table as shown in FIG. 8 in the internal nonvolatile memory. In FIG. 8, the number of jobs waiting for input is the number of image processing jobs requested for image input in the input waiting state detected by the image input operation rate detector 4, and the image input is input of image data of the jobs waiting for input. , Stop indicates input stop of the image processing job, and buffering J1 indicates execution of buffering of the image processing job located at the head of the input waiting jobs to the HDD 14a. . Image processing GS1 to GS4 indicate image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13d. Stopping the image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13d means stopping or executing the image processing units 13a to 13d. The execution of image processing is illustrated for an image processing job that has been stopped in the HDD 14a. Then, the second image processing control unit 11 refers to the operating rate corresponding re-image processing execution table based on the operating rate from the image input operating rate detecting unit 4, and determines the input waiting job and the interrupted image processing job. An image processing execution plan (image processing execution plan) is determined, and image processing of the image processing job is executed based on the image processing execution plan.

  First, image processing for image data requested to be input from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. When there is an input request for image data from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9, the multifunction apparatus 1 calculates the operation rate of the image input request by the image input operation rate detection unit 4. Then, the data is output to the first image processing control unit 10 and the second image processing control unit 11. The first image processing control unit 10 determines an image processing execution plan based on the operating rate from the image input operating rate detection unit 4 with reference to the operating rate corresponding image processing execution table shown in FIG. The image processing of the input waiting job is executed according to the determined image processing execution plan.

  That is, in FIG. 7, when there is no input waiting job, there is no image processing job to be executed, and therefore the input processing of the image processing job and the image processing in the image processing units 13 a to 13 n are not performed. When the number of jobs waiting for input is “1”, as shown in FIG. 7, the setting is made so that the jobs waiting for input are fetched and all the image processes GS1 to GS4 are executed. As shown by the thick solid arrow in the flow of image data, the image data of the image processing job waiting for input is taken into the first image processing control unit 10 and necessary image processing is sequentially executed by each of the image processing units 13a to 13n. Then, the image processed image data is stored in 14a. In the following description, it is assumed that image processing is performed in all the image processing units 13a to 13d. However, in an actual image job, there is image processing that is not necessary. In this case, image processing that is not necessary. The process proceeds to the next process without sending the image data to the image processing units 13a to 13d corresponding to.

  When the number of jobs waiting for input is “2”, as shown in FIG. 7, the first input waiting job is fetched, and all the image processes GS1 to GS4 are executed (execution J1). In addition, since the buffering setting (buffering J2) for storing the second input-waiting job in the hard disk 14a without performing image processing is performed, as shown in FIG. The image data of the image processing job J1 to be acquired is taken into the first image processing control unit 10, the necessary image processing is sequentially executed by each of the image processing units 13a to 13n, and the image processed image data is stored in 14a. The second image processing job J2 is buffered on the hard disk 14a.

  Further, when the number of jobs waiting for input is “3”, as shown in FIG. 7, the first input waiting job is fetched, and the processing of image processing GS1 to GS3 other than the image processing GS4 located at the final position is performed. 10 and the buffering setting (buffering J2) for storing the second input-waiting job on the hard disk 14a without performing image processing, as shown in FIG. As described above, the image data of the first image processing job J1 waiting for input is taken into the first image processing control unit 10, the necessary image processing is sequentially executed by the image processing units 13a to 13c, and the image processing unit 13d performs The image processing is interrupted and the image processed image data is stored in 14a and the second image processing job J2 is buffered in the hard disk 14a. That.

  Further, when the number of jobs waiting for input is “4”, as shown in FIG. 7, the head input waiting job is fetched, and the processing of image processing GS1 and image processing GS2 other than image processing GS3 and image processing GS4 is performed. 11 and the buffering setting (buffering J2) for storing the second input-waiting job on the hard disk 14a without performing image processing, as shown in FIG. As described above, the image data of the first image processing job J1 waiting for input is taken into the first image processing control unit 10, and the image processing unit 13a and the image processing unit 13b sequentially execute necessary image processing to perform image processing. The image processing in the image processing unit 13c and the image processing unit 13d is interrupted, the image processed image data is stored in 14a, and the second image processing job J2 is executed. Buffering to Dodisuku 14a.

  When the number of jobs waiting for input is “5”, as shown in FIG. 7, the setting is such that the first input waiting job is fetched and only the first image processing GS1 is executed (execution J1). Since the second input waiting job is set to buffering (buffering J2) in which the hard disk 14a is stored without image processing, as shown in FIG. 12, the image processing job positioned at the head of the input waiting job The image data of J1 is taken into the first image processing control unit 10, the necessary image processing is executed by the image processing unit 13a, and the image processing from the image processing unit 13b to the image processing unit 13d is interrupted to complete the image processing. And the second image processing job J2 is buffered in the hard disk 14a.

  When the number of jobs waiting for input is “6”, as shown in FIG. 7, all image processing GS1 to image processing GS4 are set to stop execution (execution J1), and input waiting jobs are set. Since the buffering setting (buffering J1) for storing the hard disk 14a without performing image processing is set, as shown in FIG. 13, the image data of the first image processing job J1 waiting for input is buffered in the hard disk 14a. Ring.

  Next, execution of image processing for image data (image processing job) buffered in the hard disk 14a without performing any image processing as described above will be described. When the multifunction apparatus 1 interrupts the image processing based on the operation rate of the image input request (number of jobs waiting for input) and stores it in the hard disk 14a, the second image processing control unit 11 causes the operation rate of the image input request (input waiting) Based on the number of jobs), the re-image processing execution for the image data buffered in the hard disk 14a (hereinafter referred to as buffer data as appropriate) is performed with reference to the operation rate corresponding re-image processing execution table shown in FIG. A plan is determined, and image processing of an input waiting job is executed according to the re-image processing execution plan.

  That is, in FIG. 8, when there is no job waiting for input, the second image processing control unit 11 uses the image processing job buffered on the hard disk 14a as the head because the image processing units 13a to 13d are free. In the same manner as in FIG. 9, the image processing of GS1 to GS4 is sequentially performed in all the image processing units 13a to 13d from the first image processing unit 13a to the final image processing unit 13d as in FIG. The image data after image processing is stored in the hard disk 14b. When the number of jobs waiting for input is “1”, as shown in FIG. 8, the input waiting job J1 is buffered in the hard disk 14a, and all the images for the buffer data buffered in the hard disk 14a are buffered. Since it is set to execute the processes GS1 to GS4, the image data of the image processing job waiting for input is buffered in the hard disk 14a and already buffered in the hard disk 14a as in FIG. The buffer data is taken into the second image processing control unit 11, the necessary image processing is sequentially executed by each of the image processing units 13a to 13n, and the image processed image data is stored in the hard disk 14b.

  When the number of jobs waiting for input is “2”, as shown in FIG. 8, the head input waiting job is set to be buffered in the hard disk 14a, and the image processing GS1 other than the last image processing GS4 is set. ~ GS3 is set to execute (buffer data execution), as shown in FIG. 10, the image data of the image processing job J1 positioned at the head of the input waiting is buffered on the hard disk 14a (buffering). Along with J1), the buffer data already buffered in the hard disk 14a is taken into the second image processing control unit 11, and necessary image processing is sequentially performed from the first image processing unit 13a to the third image processing unit 13c. Then, the image processed image data is stored in the hard disk 14b.

  Further, when the number of jobs waiting for input is “3”, as shown in FIG. 8, the setting for buffering the leading input waiting job on the hard disk 14a (buffering J1) and the leading image processing GS1 are performed. Since only the next image processing GS2 is set to be executed, the image data of the image processing job J1 positioned at the head of the input waiting is buffered in the hard disk 14a and stored in the hard disk 14a as in FIG. The already buffered buffer data is taken into the second image processing control unit 11 and the necessary image processing is sequentially executed by the first image processing unit 13a and the next image processing unit 13b, and the image processed image data is obtained. Store in the hard disk 14b.

  When the number of jobs waiting for input is “4”, as shown in FIG. 8, the setting for buffering the first input waiting job on the hard disk 14a (buffering J1) is made, and the first image processing GS1 is performed. Therefore, as in FIG. 12, the image data of the image processing job J1 positioned at the head of the input waiting is buffered on the hard disk 14a and already buffered on the hard disk 14a. The buffer data is fetched into the second image processing control unit 11 and necessary image processing is executed by the head image processing unit 13a, and the image processed image data is stored in the hard disk 14b.

  Also, when the number of jobs waiting for input is “5”, as shown in FIG. 8, only the setting for buffering the first input waiting job on the hard disk 14a (buffering J1) is made. In addition, only the process of buffering the image data of the head image processing job J1 waiting for input to the hard disk 14a is performed, and the process is not executed for the image processing for the buffer data already buffered in the hard disk 14a.

  Next, re-image processing of a halfway interrupted image processing job in which image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13n is interrupted and stored in the hard disk 14a will be described. When the multifunction apparatus 1 interrupts the image processing based on the operation rate of the image input request (number of jobs waiting for input) and stores it in the hard disk 14a, the second image processing control unit 11 causes the operation rate of the image input request (input waiting) Based on the reference result of the operation rate corresponding re-image processing execution table shown in FIG. 8 based on the number of jobs), the image input characteristic information (image conversion information, image processing information) in the input characteristic information memory 12, and the image processing interruption information, A re-image processing execution plan is determined for image data buffered on the hard disk 14a (hereinafter referred to as image processing incomplete image data as appropriate), and image processing of an input waiting job is performed according to the re-image processing execution plan. Execute. As described above, the image input characteristic information and the image processing interruption information indicate whether the image processing job is interrupted in the middle of the image processing, and in what stage the image processing job is interrupted in the middle of the image processing job. Information.

  That is, when the image input request is frequently generated, the composite apparatus 1 interrupts the image processing at an intermediate stage and stores it in the hard disk 14a as described above. However, as shown in FIG. 10, the image processing unit 13a For an image processing job in which the image processing in the image processing unit 13d is completed and the image processing in the image processing unit 13d is unprocessed and image data (image processing incomplete image data) is stored in the hard disk 14a. As shown in FIG. 14, the second image processing control unit 11 reads out image processing incomplete image data from the hard disk 14a, performs image processing by the image processing unit 13d, and then stores it in the hard disk 14b.

  In addition, the image processing unit 13a and the image processing unit 13b complete image processing in the image processing unit 13a and the image processing unit 13d. For the image processing job storing the unprocessed image data), as shown in FIG. 15, the second image processing control unit 11 reads out the image processing incomplete image data from the hard disk 14a, and the image processing unit 13c. Then, the image is processed by the image processing unit 13d and then stored in the hard disk 14b.

  In addition, the image processing unit 13a completes only the image processing in the image processing unit 13a, and the image processing unit 13b to the image processing unit 13d have not yet processed the image data in the hard disk 14a. For the image processing job storing the data), as shown in FIG. 16, the second image processing control unit 11 reads out the image processing incomplete image data from the hard disk 14a, and the image processing unit 13b reads the image processing unit. The image is sequentially processed up to 13d and then stored in the hard disk 14b.

  Furthermore, the composite apparatus 1 does not process image processing jobs in which image data (image processing incomplete image data) is stored in the hard disk 14a in a state where image processing in all the image processing units 13a to 13d is unprocessed. As shown in FIG. 17, the second image processing control unit 11 reads out image processing incomplete image data from the hard disk 14a, sequentially performs image processing from the image processing unit 13a to the image processing unit 13d, and then stores them in the hard disk 14b. .

  As described above, when the number of image input requests for the image processing job that has not been processed at the image input stage is reduced (the operation rate is low), the unprocessed image processing is re-executed. By performing the processing, final image processed image data can be obtained.

  In the above description, when image data of an image processing job whose image processing has been interrupted is stored in the hard disk 14a, the image processing is performed when the number of image input requests decreases (the operation rate decreases). Although re-image processing of incomplete image data is performed, re-image processing of image processing incomplete image data is not limited to the above timing. For example, when empty image processing units 13a to 13n are generated in the forward image processing by the first image processing control unit 10, the image data in which the image processing in the empty image processing units 13a to 13d is unprocessed is performed. When (image processing incomplete image data) is in the hard disk 14a, the forward image processing and the reprocessing in the reprocessing direction of the image processing incomplete image data may be executed in parallel. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 18, image data that has not been processed by the image processing unit 13d (image data that has not been processed yet) is stored in the hard disk 14a, and image data that is input from the outside is stored. When the forward image processing is image processing in the image processing units 13a to 13c, the forward image processing is sequentially performed in the image processing units 13a to 13c under the control of the first image processing control unit 10 and stored in the hard disk 14a. At the same time, under the control of the second image processing control unit 11, the image processing unit 13d performs image processing on the image processing incomplete image data and stores it in the hard disk 14b. In addition, as shown in FIG. 19, image data that has not been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 13c and the image processing unit 13d (image processing incomplete image data) is stored in the hard disk 14a, and the image is input externally. When the forward image processing for the data is image processing in the image processing units 13a and 13, forward image processing is sequentially performed in the image processing unit 13a and the image processing unit 13b under the control of the first image processing control unit 10. The image processing unit 13c and the image processing unit 13d perform image processing on the image processing incomplete image data under the control of the second image processing control unit 11 and store the image processing unit in the hard disk 14b. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 20, image data that has not been processed by the image processing unit 13b, the image processing unit 13c, and the image processing unit 13d (image processing incomplete image data) is stored in the hard disk 14a. When the forward image processing on the externally input image data is image processing in the image processing unit 13a, the forward image processing is performed from the image processing unit 13a to the image processing unit 13c under the control of the first image processing control unit 10. The image processing unit 13d performs image processing on the image processing incomplete image data under the control of the second image processing control unit 11, and stores the image data in the hard disk 14b.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 21, image data that has not been subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 13c and the image processing unit 13d (image processing incomplete image data) is stored in the hard disk 14a, and the image is input externally. When the forward image processing on the data is image processing by the image processing unit 13a, the forward image processing is performed by the image processing unit 13a under the control of the first image processing control unit 10 and stored in the hard disk 14a. Under the control of the second image processing control unit 11, image processing incomplete image data is subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 13c and the image processing unit 13d and stored in the hard disk 14b. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 22, image data that has not been processed by the image processing unit 13d (image data that has not been processed yet) is stored in the hard disk 14a, and the forward direction with respect to image data that is input externally is stored. When the image processing is image processing by the image processing unit 13a, the forward image processing is performed by the image processing unit 13a under the control of the first image processing control unit 10 and stored in the hard disk 14a, and the second image processing control is performed. Under the control of the unit 11, the image processing unit 13d performs image processing on the image processing incomplete image data and stores it in the hard disk 14b.

  As described above, the composite apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes the image input request information including the number of input requests for image data accompanied by predetermined image processing and the image processing characteristics requested to be executed for the image data of the image input request. The first image processing control unit 10 accepts the image input requests in a predetermined order based on the image input request information, and determines and accepts an image processing stage to be executed on the image data. The image processing units 13a to 13n are stored in the hard disk 14a until the image processing stage in which the necessary image processing is determined for the image data, and the image processing is interrupted in the middle of the image data stored in the hard disk 14a. The image processing incomplete image processing is read out, and the incomplete image processing is performed on the image data based on the image input request information. In running.

  Accordingly, when an image input request that requires a large amount of image input and cannot be processed appropriately by the image processing units 13a to 13n, the necessary image processing is interrupted at an appropriate image processing stage and temporarily executed. By storing the image data in the hard disk 14a, reading the image data from the hard disk 14a in accordance with the requested image input amount, and executing incomplete image processing, it is possible to improve the processing efficiency of the entire image processing of the composite apparatus 1. It is possible to improve the usability by reducing the waiting time for the operator to wait for image input.

  In addition, the multifunction apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uses an operation rate as an image input request amount, and controls image input and image processing based on the operation rate.

  Therefore, it is possible to appropriately grasp the requested image input amount to be processed, and to improve the overall image processing efficiency of the composite apparatus 1 more appropriately. As a result, it is possible to reduce the waiting time for the operator to wait for image input, and to improve the usability of the multifunction apparatus 1.

  In the above description, the image processing procedure (image processing stage) is determined in accordance with the number of waits (operation rate) for image input requests from the image input units 2a to 2n, 17a to 17n, the FAX unit 8 and the operation unit 9. However, not only the number of waits for image input requests (number of image processing jobs), but also the type of image input request (image processing job), the amount of image data (volume) for the image input request (image processing job), etc. The image processing procedure may be determined by

  For example, the types of image input requests (image processing jobs) include copy output, FAX transmission, storage of image data in the hard disks 14a and 14b, and image input request for requesting transmission of image data to an external computer or the like. . Of the types of image input requests, for example, in the case of copy output, it is normal for an operator to wait at the installation location of the multifunction apparatus 1 until the original image is read and the output image is acquired as copy paper. This is the type of image input request that the user wants to perform processing. On the other hand, for fax transmission, hard disk storage, and transfer to another device (external computer, etc.), as an operator, when image data is input to the multifunction device 1, it is necessary to wait at the place where the multifunction device 1 is installed until the result is obtained. There is no type of image input request.

  Therefore, for each image processing job for which input is requested, for example, as shown in FIG. 23, the highest priority is given to copy output, then the scanner input, and then the scanner output and printer output are given the next priority, and fax transmission is performed. A job priority table (priority information) in which the FAX reception is set as the lowest priority is stored in the first image processing control unit 10, and a plurality of image input requests are simultaneously overlapped with reference to the job priority table. In this case, the processing order (image input request permission order) is determined. For example, when a plurality of image input requests (image processing jobs) are overlapped at the same time, the priority of image input for copy output that needs to input an image and receive the result is increased. The job priority order table shown in FIG. 23 indicates the priority of an image input request (image processing job) in which the operator waits for the processing result of the image input request (image processing job) in front of the composite apparatus 1 in response to the image input request. This is a higher ranking, with copy output as the highest priority.

  When the priority order of image input requests (image processing jobs) is set in this way, a plurality of image input requests to be executed according to the number of image input requests (number of image processing jobs) accumulated in the image input queue. Image processing can be interrupted halfway and the number of image processing (image processing amount) executed during image input can be changed to prevent many image input requests from being accumulated. The waiting time for image input can be shortened to further improve the usability. In addition, since the remaining image processing is re-executed for the image data interrupted halfway when the requested amount of image input is relatively small and the operation rate of the composite device 1 is low, the overall processing efficiency of the composite device 1 is improved and production is performed. Can be improved.

  The priority of the image input request (image processing job) may be determined based on the volume (image size, number of pages) of the image input request (image processing job). That is, an image input request (image processing job) with a large volume requires time for image processing corresponding to the volume, so that the amount of image processing at the time of image input is reduced (for example, the image processing units 13a to 13n that process sequentially) When the requested image input amount is reduced, the re-image processing is performed again, thereby shortening the waiting time when the operator inputs the image.

  Therefore, image input and image processing can be controlled more appropriately, processing efficiency can be further improved, and usability can be further improved.

  The invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the preferred embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to that described in the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. It goes without saying that it is possible.

  The present invention can be used for an image processing apparatus such as a composite apparatus or a copying apparatus that efficiently processes a plurality of image input requests, an image processing control method, an image processing control program, and a recording medium.

The principal part block block diagram of the compound apparatus to which one Example of this invention is applied. The figure which shows an example of the network connection of a compound apparatus. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a scanner unit as an image input unit. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer unit as an image output unit. The block block diagram of an example of an image process part. The block diagram of the header part and data part of an image processing job. The figure which shows an example of an operation rate corresponding | compatible image process execution table. The figure which shows an example of the operation rate corresponding | compatible re-image process execution table. The figure which shows the image processing execution procedure when the number of jobs waiting for input is "1". The figure which shows the image processing execution procedure when the number of input waiting jobs is "2." The figure which shows the image processing execution procedure when the number of jobs waiting for input is "3". The figure which shows the image processing execution procedure when the number of jobs waiting for input is "4". The figure which shows the image processing execution procedure when the number of jobs waiting for input is "5". The figure which shows the re-image process execution procedure which performs a re-image process in the image process part of the last stage. The figure which shows the re-image process execution procedure which performs a re-image process in the latter two image processing parts. The figure which shows the re-image process execution procedure which performs a re-image process in latter half three image process parts. The figure which shows the re-image process execution procedure which re-image-processes in all the image process parts. Image processing explanatory drawing which performs forward image processing in the first three image processing units and re-image processing in the second half image processing unit. Image processing explanatory drawing in which forward image processing in the first two image processing units and re-image processing in the second two image processing units are performed. Image processing explanatory drawing which performs forward image processing in one image processing unit in the first half and re-image processing in three image processing units in the second half. Image processing explanatory drawing which performs forward image processing in one image processing unit in the first half and re-image processing in two image processing units in the second half. Explanatory drawing of image processing which performs the forward image process in the first image processing part, and the re-image process in the last image processing part. The figure which shows an example of a job priority order table. FIG. 10 is a schematic block configuration diagram in an image processing system of a conventional composite apparatus. FIG. 6 is a schematic block configuration diagram in a control system of a conventional composite apparatus. The figure which shows an example of the block configuration of an image process part. The schematic block block diagram of the conventional compound apparatus provided with the several image process part.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Composite apparatus 2a-2n, 2s Image input part 3 Image input mediation part 4 Image input operation rate detection part 5 Image output part 6 External I / F control part 7 NIC
8 FAX unit 9 Operation unit 10 First image processing control unit 11 Second image processing control unit 12 Input characteristic information memory 13a to 13n Image processing units 14a and 14b Hard disk (HDD)
15 bus 16 network 17a to 17n image input unit 20 ADF
21 Contact glass 22 Optical scanning unit 23 CCD unit 24 Image output I / F
25 Light source 26 Mirror 27 Lens 28 CCD
29 Scanner Image Processing Unit 30 Printer Unit 31 Video I / F
32 Printer Image Processing Unit 33 Laser Unit 34 Photosensitive Drum 35 Primary Charger 36 Developing Unit 37 Transfer Unit 38 Cleaning Unit 39 Static Eliminating Unit 40 Conveying Belt 41 Fixing Unit 42 Paper Feeding Unit 43 Paper Conveying Unit

Claims (8)

  Image input means for requesting input of image data accompanied by predetermined image processing, at least an image input request amount from the image input means, and image processing characteristics requested to be executed for the image data of the image input request Image input request management means for managing image input request information, a plurality of image processing execution means for performing predetermined image processing on input image data, and a plurality of the image processing execution means are independently controlled to input images Input image processing control means for executing image processing on data; image data storage means for storing image data; and reading out image data stored in the image data storage means to independently execute the image processing execution means. Stored image processing control means for controlling the image data to execute image processing on the image data, and the input image processing control means is a tube of the image input request management means. The image input request is received in a predetermined order based on the image input request information to be determined, an image processing stage to be executed on the image data is determined, and the image processing execution means is necessary for the received image data The image processing is performed until the determined image processing stage is stored in the image data storage unit, and the stored image processing control unit is configured to perform image processing in the middle of the image data stored in the image data storage unit. An image processing apparatus that reads out interrupted image processing incomplete image data and causes the image processing execution means to execute the incomplete image processing on the image data based on the image input request information .   The image input request management means also manages the type and amount of image processing for image data requested by the image input request as image processing characteristics of the image input request information. Image processing device.   The image processing apparatus includes a step in which image processing is completed by the image processing execution unit in the image processing according to the image processing characteristic regarding the image data stored in the image data storage unit by the input image processing control unit. Image processing related information storage means for storing the image processing completion stage information shown together with the image processing characteristics in association with the image data, and the storage image processing control means stores the image processing completion information stored in the image data storage means. For the completed image data, the image processing related information storage means stores the incomplete image processing based on the image processing related information and the image input request information stored corresponding to the image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is executed by a process execution unit.   The image processing apparatus includes a priority information storage unit that stores priority information in which an image processing type and a processing priority of the image input request are associated with each other, and the input image processing control unit responds to the image input request. Then, a processing priority is obtained from the priority information based on the image processing type of the image input request, and the image input request image data is acquired based on the image input request information and the processing priority. The image processing stage to be processed by the image processing execution unit is determined, and the image processing execution unit executes image processing until the image processing stage and stores the image processing stage in the image data storage unit. 4. The image processing device according to any one of 3.   An image input processing step for requesting input of image data accompanied by predetermined image processing, an image input request amount from at least the image input processing step, and an image processing characteristic requested to be executed for the image data of the image input request An image input request management processing step for managing image input request information including a plurality of image processing execution processing steps for performing predetermined image processing on input image data, and a plurality of the image processing execution processing steps. An input image processing control processing step for controlling and executing image processing on the input image data; and reading out the image data stored in the image data storage means and independently controlling the image processing execution processing step A storage image processing control processing step for performing image processing on the image data, and the input image processing control processing step includes: The image input request is received in a predetermined order based on the image input request information managed by the image input request management processing step, and an image processing stage to be executed on the image data is determined, and the received image data On the other hand, the image processing necessary for the image processing execution processing step is performed up to the image processing stage determined and stored in the image data storage means, and the stored image processing control processing step is stored in the image data storage means. Image data that has been interrupted in the middle of the image processing is read out, and the incomplete image processing is performed on the image data based on the image input request information. An image processing method characterized by causing a step to execute.   In the image processing method, the image processing is completed by the image processing execution processing step in the image processing according to the image processing characteristics related to the image data stored in the image data storage means by the input image processing control processing step. The image processing related information storage processing step stores the image processing completion stage information indicating the stage in association with the image data together with the image processing characteristics in the image processing related information storage means, and the storage image processing control processing step includes The image processing related information and the image input request information stored in correspondence with the image data in the image processing related information storage unit for image data incomplete in the image processing stored in the image data storage unit The image processing step according to claim 5, wherein the image processing step is caused to execute the incomplete image processing. Processing method.   Image input processing for requesting input of image data accompanied by predetermined image processing to computer, image processing requesting to execute at least image input request amount from image input processing and image data of said image input request An image input request management process for managing image input request information including characteristics, a plurality of image processing execution processes for performing predetermined image processing on input image data, and a plurality of the image processing execution processes are independently controlled. Input image processing control processing for executing image processing on the input image data, and reading out image data stored in the image data storage means for storing the image data and independently controlling the image processing execution processing Storage image processing control processing for executing image processing on the image data, and management of the image input request management processing as the input image processing control processing The image input requests are received in a predetermined order based on the image input request information, and an image processing stage to be executed on the image data is determined, and the received image data is necessary for image processing execution processing. The image processing is performed up to the determined image processing stage and stored in the image data storage unit, and as the stored image processing control process, the image processing is performed among the image data stored in the image data storage unit. Reading image processing incomplete image processing interrupted in the middle and causing the image processing execution processing to execute the incomplete image processing on the image data based on the image input request information A characteristic image processing control program.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the image processing control program according to claim 7 is recorded.

Images