KR100754522B1 - Host apparatus for storing image efficiently and image storage method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A host device for efficiently storing images and an image storing method using the same are provided to prevent a scan error generated while storing the scanning image data and solve inconvenience for scanning again the image data by dividing the image data according to a predicted size of the image data and distributing/storing the divided image data to a plurality of storing parts. Each storing part(340-360) stores the scanning image data received from an image forming device. A calculator(310) calculates the predicted size of the image data. A controller(330) divides the image data according to the predicted size of the image data and distributes/stores the divided image data to the storing parts if the predicted size of the image data is bigger than a remaining capacity of a main storing part among the storing parts. The calculator calculates the predicted number of scanning documents and calculates the predicated size of the image data by applying a predetermined resolution to the predicted number of scanning documents. A user interface part(320) provides a user interface for displaying the predicted number of scanning documents and the predicated size of image data.

Description

Host apparatus for storing images efficiently and image storage method using the same {Host apparatus for storing image efficiently and image storage method using the same}

1 is a block diagram showing an image storage system for storing a conventional image;

2 is a schematic diagram showing a user interface displaying an error in conventional image storage;

3 is a block diagram illustrating an image storage system to which a host apparatus is applied according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a host apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a host apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a schematic diagram showing a user interface for displaying an expected size of image data according to an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a schematic diagram showing a user interface for designating a storage unit to be distributedly stored according to an expected size of image data according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a flowchart illustrating an image storing method according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

9 is a flowchart illustrating an image storing method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

100: image storage system 110: image forming apparatus

120,200,300: Host device 130-1,130-2,130-3: A plurality of storage unit

210,310: calculation unit 220,330: control unit

320: user interface unit 340: first storage unit

350: second storage unit 360: third storage unit

The present invention relates to a host device for efficiently storing an image and an image storing method using the same, and more particularly, to a host device for dividing and storing image data according to an expected size of the image data and to store them in a plurality of storage units. It relates to an image storage method used.

In general, an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction device having a scanner and a scanning function scans a document, converts the scanned result into image data in a predetermined format (eg, JPEG, TIFF format, etc.) and transmits the image data to a host device such as a computer. . A driver program for driving the scanner is installed in the computer, and an application program for driving the scanner program to drive the scanner and processing image data formed in the scanner is installed.

1 is a block diagram showing an image storage system for storing a conventional image.

Referring to FIG. 1, a user loads a plurality of documents into the automatic feeder of the scanner 10, selects a scan option from the scanner driver of the computer 20, and executes a scan. Accordingly, the image data scanned by the scanner 10 is stored in the designated drive 30 of the computer 10. In this case, when the scanned image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the drive 30, that is, when the remaining capacity of the drive 30 is insufficient, the user interface 40 displaying the scan error of FIG. 2 is provided to the user, and the scan is performed. Will stop.

Therefore, conventionally, when scanning a plurality of documents and storing the scanned image data, when the storage space of the drive to store the image data is insufficient, the scan error message is provided and the scan is stopped, so that the user processes the error again. There was an inconvenience to run the scan.

In addition, the remaining capacity of the drive to store the image data is confirmed in advance, there was no image data processing method for the case where the remaining capacity is insufficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to divide image data according to an expected size of the image data and to store the image data in a plurality of storage units, thereby scanning scan errors generated while storing the scanned image data. The present invention provides a host device and an image storage method using the same, which can prevent the inconvenience of having to scan image data again.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a host device connected to an image forming apparatus includes a plurality of storage units storing image data scanned from the image forming apparatus, and calculating an expected size of the image data. Computing unit, and comparing the remaining capacity of the main storage unit and the expected size of the image data of the plurality of storage unit, if the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit by dividing the image data And a controller configured to distribute and store the plurality of storage units.

Here, the calculator may calculate an expected number of scans of a document and calculate an expected size of the image data by applying a predetermined resolution to the expected number of scans of the document.

Preferably, the apparatus may further include a user interface configured to provide a user interface for displaying an expected number of scans of the document and an expected size of the image data.

The user interface unit may provide a user interface for designating a storage unit in which the image data is distributed among a plurality of storage units according to an expected size of the image data, and the controller may include a storage unit designated through the user interface unit. The image data may be distributed and stored in the.

On the other hand, the image storage method of the host device having a plurality of storage unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, calculating the expected size of the image data to be scanned, the remaining capacity of the main storage unit of the plurality of storage unit and the image data And comparing the estimated sizes of the image data and dividing and storing the image data in the plurality of storage units when the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail with respect to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an image storage system to which a host apparatus is applied according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, the image storage system includes an image forming apparatus 110 and a host apparatus 120. The host device 120 may include a plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3. Here, the image storage system may store the image data scanned by the image forming apparatus 110 in the plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 of the host device 120.

The image forming apparatus 110 may form at least one image data of at least one document loaded in an automatic paper feeder (not shown). The image forming apparatus 110 may be implemented as a multifunction printer, a scanner, a digital camera, or the like.

The image forming apparatus 110 may include a scanning module (not shown) for scanning at least one document and an image processor (not shown) for processing the scanned image data.

The scanning module (not shown) is composed of a CCD image sensor, a lens, and a light source, and is moved by a carriage return motor. Here, the CCD image sensor includes a photoelectric conversion unit that generates electrons by absorbing reflected light of light generated from a light source and irradiated to an object, and a charge that transmits the charge generated in the photoelectric conversion unit to the signal detection unit. It is divided into a transmission unit and a signal detection unit that detects signal charge and finally converts image information received by the photoelectric conversion unit into an electrical signal.

The image processor (not shown) may nonlinearly perform shading and intensity signals that set how the surface of the object reacts to light with respect to image data input from a scanning module (not shown). Deformed gamma correction, Dot per Inch (DPI) transformation that converts how many points per inch to input and / or output, and Edge emphasis to sharpen the object to make it look sharper edge emphasis, an error diffusion for diffusing the quantization error due to the binarization of pixels to surrounding pixels, and the like.

In addition, the image forming apparatus 110 may process and form image data according to a scan option input from a user. The scan options may be a black and white or color scanning selection option for selecting whether to scan the image data in black and white or color, a resolution option for setting the resolution of the image data, and a scan area option for setting the area to be scanned.

Also, the image forming apparatus 110 may transmit at least one image processed image data to the host device (120).

The host device 120 may receive image data from the image forming apparatus 110 and store the received image data in the plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3. In a general case, the plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 are stored in a storage unit designated by a user. However, if the user does not specify a storage unit, it is stored in the default storage unit. Hereinafter, a storage unit designated by a user or set as a default is called a main storage unit. The host device 120 may be implemented as a personal computer, a notebook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or the like.

In addition, the host device 120 may calculate an estimated number of scans of the document loaded in the automatic feeder (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 110, and apply the predetermined resolution to the estimated number of scans to adjust the expected size of the image data. Can be calculated

In addition, the host device 120 compares the estimated size of the image data with the remaining capacity of the main storage unit 130-1, and divides the image data when the estimated size of the image data is large, thereby storing the plurality of storage units 130-130. 1,130-2,130-3) can be distributed and stored. A detailed description of the host device 120 according to this will be described later with reference to FIG. 4.

The plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 may store various control programs necessary to implement the functions of the host device 200. The plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 may be implemented as a hard disk memory, a memory card, or the like.

In addition, the plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 may distribute and store the divided image data.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 are described as being included therein. However, the storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3 may be implemented in various forms.

4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a host device according to an exemplary embodiment.

4 and 3, the host device 200 may include a calculator 210 and a controller 220.

The calculator 210 may calculate an estimated number of scans for at least one document loaded in an automatic paper feeder (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 110. That is, the height of the loaded document may be acquired through a sensor provided in the automatic paper feeder (not shown), and the estimated number of scanned documents to be scanned may be calculated using the thickness of the loaded document.

In addition, the calculator 210 may calculate an expected size of the image data by applying a predetermined resolution to the estimated number of scans. The predetermined resolution may be any one of 600 dpi, 1200 dpi, and 2400 dpi.

Here, for example, a method of calculating the expected size of the image data, if the estimated number of scans is twenty nine, and the resolution to be applied to the image data is 600 dpi, the size of the image data per image data is 19MB, The estimated size for image data is 551MB.

The controller 220 controls the overall operation of the host device based on a program stored in a ROM (not shown). In detail, the controller 220 may compare the estimated size of the image data calculated by the calculator 210 with the remaining capacity of the main storage 130-1.

If the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit 130-1 according to the comparison result, the controller 220 divides the image data and distributes the image data to the plurality of storage units 130-1, 130-2, and 130-3. Can be stored.

Meanwhile, if the estimated size of the image data is smaller than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit 130-1, the controller 220 may store the image data in the main storage unit 130-1.

5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a host device according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, the host device 300 may include a calculator 310, a user interface 320, a controller 330, a first storage 340, a second storage 350, and a third storage. It may include a portion 360.

The calculator 310 may perform the same function as the calculator 210 of FIG. 4. In addition, when the estimated number of scans and the resolution are manually input through the user interface provided by the user interface 320, the calculator 310 may calculate the estimated size of the image data according to the manually inputted expected number of scans and the resolution.

The user interface 320 may receive various commands from a user and provide a user interface for receiving user commands. Specifically, the user interface for displaying the estimated number of scans and the estimated size of the image data calculated by the calculator 310 may be provided. The user interface is provided with an input window for manually inputting an expected number of scans and a resolution. Accordingly, the expected number of scans and the resolution may be manually input from the user through the user interface provided by the user interface 320.

In addition, the user interface 320 may provide a user interface for designating a storage unit to distribute image data under the control of the controller 330. The user interface is provided with an input window for inputting the number of scans of the image data into each of the first, second, and third storage units 340, 350, and 360. Accordingly, the number of scans of the image data may be input to each storage unit through the user interface 310 from the user.

The user interface 320 may include a display unit such as a CRT or LCD to display a user interface, and may include an input unit such as a keyboard or a mouse to receive a command from a user.

The controller 330 may perform the same function as the controller 220 of FIG. 4. In addition, the controller 330 provides a user interface for designating a storage unit to store image data when the estimated size of the image data calculated by the calculator 310 is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit among the plurality of storage units. The user interface 320 may be controlled to control the user interface 320. Here, the plurality of storage units may be the first storage unit 340, the second storage unit 350, and the third storage unit 360, and the first storage unit 340 may be the main storage unit.

In addition, the controller 330 may divide the image data scanned from the image forming apparatus into a designated storage unit through the user interface 320 and distribute and store the image data.

6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user interface for displaying an expected size of image data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the user interface 400 for setting an image data storage option displays a current storage setting menu 410 and an expected image data 420 menu. The current save setting menu 410 displays the folder "C: \ ScanData" where image data is to be stored and the remaining capacity "100 MB" in the main storage. The estimated image data menu displays the estimated number of scans and a predetermined resolution in each input window. 430 and 440, and the expected size of the image data is displayed.

That is, the number of scans calculated by the computing unit of the host field displays 12 sheets and the capacity of 228 MB of image data having a predetermined resolution of 600 dpi. Here, the number of scans and the resolution may be manually input from the user through the input window 430 of the number of scans and the input window 440 of the resolution.

In this case, since the estimated image data has a capacity of 228 MB and the remaining capacity of the main storage unit is 100 MB, the image data cannot be stored in the main storage unit. Therefore, a user interface for designating a storage unit for distributing image data is displayed to the user. . This will be described in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user interface for designating a storage unit to be distributedly stored according to an expected size of image data according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, a user interface 500 for setting a storage space provided by the user interface unit, and the user interface 500 that designates a storage unit to store the image data of FIG. Select the drive to save "and the remaining capacity (510) of each storage unit is displayed, and the input window (520-1, 520-2, 520-3) for dividing and inputting image data for each storage unit. Is displayed.

That is, the remaining capacity (510) of each drive is displayed as C drive: 100MB, D drive: 100MB, E drive: 900MB, so the user can refer to the remaining capacity of each drive, and the C drive directly stores 5 image data, You can also specify 5 pieces for the D drive and 2 pieces for the E drive.

Accordingly, 228 MB of image data can be divided, and a plurality of storage units can be designated and distributedly stored.

In the present embodiment, distributed storage in each storage unit has been described. However, in the case of the E drive, since the remaining capacity is enough to store 228 MB of image data, the 228 MB image data may be stored in the E drive.

That is, when the remaining capacity of the other storage unit is sufficient, it can be implemented in various ways, such as configured to store the image data without dividing.

8 is a flowchart illustrating an image storing method according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 8, an estimated number of scans for at least one document is calculated, and an estimated size of image data to be scanned is calculated by applying a predetermined resolution to the calculated estimated number of scans (S610).

Thereafter, the estimated size of the image data is compared with the remaining capacity of the main storage unit of the plurality of storage units, and if the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit (S620: Y), the scanned image data is divided. Distributed and stored in a plurality of storage unit (S630).

On the other hand, if the estimated size of the image data is smaller than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit (S620: N), the scanned image data is stored in the main storage unit (S640).

Accordingly, a scan error caused by insufficient storage space while storing the scanned image data can be prevented, and the inconvenience of having to scan the image data again can be eliminated.

9 is a flowchart illustrating an image storing method according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, an estimated number of scans for at least one document is calculated, an estimated size of image data to be scanned is calculated by applying a predetermined resolution to the calculated estimated number of scans (S710), and the calculated number of estimated scans is calculated. And a user interface for displaying an expected size of the image data (S720).

Thereafter, the estimated size of the image data is compared with the remaining capacity of the main storage unit of the plurality of storage units, and if the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit (S730: Y), according to the estimated size of the image data, In operation S740, a user interface for dividing the image data to designate a storage unit to distribute the image data among the plurality of storage units is distributed. The user may designate a storage unit to distribute image data among a plurality of storage units through a provided user interface.

Accordingly, the scanned image data is divided and stored in a storage unit designated by the user (S750).

On the other hand, if the estimated size of the image data is smaller than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit (S720: N), the scanned image data is stored in the main storage unit (S760).

Accordingly, by displaying the remaining capacities of the plurality of storage units to distribute and store the scanned image data, the utilization of the storage unit can be maximized.

As described above, according to the present invention, by calculating the expected size of the image data, by storing the image data in accordance with the expected size of the image data, to prevent the scanning error occurring while storing the scanned image data, and again the image data This can eliminate the inconvenience of having to scan.

In addition, by displaying the expected size of the image data and the remaining capacity of the main storage in advance before scanning, by displaying the remaining capacity of the plurality of storage, it is possible to easily store the image data, and maximize the utilization of the storage. .

In addition, although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described specific embodiment, the technical field to which the invention belongs without departing from the spirit of the invention claimed in the claims. Of course, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

Claims (5)

In the host device connected to the image forming apparatus, A plurality of storage units storing image data scanned from the image forming apparatus; A calculator for calculating an expected size of the image data; And Comparing the remaining capacity of the main storage unit and the expected size of the image data among the plurality of storage units, and when the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit, the image data is divided into the plurality of storage units. And a control unit for distributing and storing the data in the host device. The method of claim 1, The calculation unit, And calculating an expected size of the image data by calculating an estimated number of scanned documents and applying a predetermined resolution to the estimated number of scanned documents. The method of claim 2, And a user interface unit for providing a user interface for displaying an estimated number of scans of the document and an expected size of the image data. The method of claim 3, The user interface unit may provide a user interface for designating a storage unit to distribute the image data among a plurality of storage units according to an expected size of the image data. The controller may be configured to distribute and store the image data in a storage unit designated through the user interface unit. In the image storage method of the host device having a plurality of storage unit, Calculating an expected size of the image data to be scanned; Comparing the remaining capacity of the main storage of the plurality of storages with an expected size of the image data; And And dividing and storing the image data in the plurality of storage units when the estimated size of the image data is larger than the remaining capacity of the main storage unit.

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