JP2000151969A - Copying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a copying device which can execute page consecutive photographing at high speed and whose copying productivity is high by dividing image data for one screen in a stored original into image data of two units, which correspond to two images divided by a prescribed boundary, reading them, forming the images for the respective units and obtaining the images of two pages. SOLUTION: An image signal which is read by a scanner A is processed in an image processing part B, is stored in a storage part C in the units of image data G1-Gn in (n) pages and it is divided into two into units R1-Rn for respective pieces of image data G1-Gn in (n) pages with the center line of an original screen as a boundary. Divided image data R1-R2n are compressed in a compression part D and 2n page image data are accumulated in an accumulation part E. Data are read and expanded for respective units R1-R2n in an expansion part F and image data is formed. An image forming part G drives a semiconductor laser, exposes a photosensitive body and the image is formed in the electronic photograph processes of charging, exposure and copy. The image of the original in (n) pages is copied in the recording object of 2n pages.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a so-called digital copying apparatus in which an image on an original is read by a scanner and an image forming means is driven by the obtained image data to form an image.

[0002] The present invention particularly relates to an improvement in so-called continuous page printing in which an image of a one-page document is divided and formed on two pages of recording paper.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art A continuous page copying function is used to convert an image of one screen of a document into two.
This function is to divide the paper into two and form it on two pages of the recording paper.
It is installed in many recent copying machines.

In the conventional continuous page scanning, an image is read by scanning an original twice in half and scanning twice, and an image is formed on two pages of recording paper based on each image data obtained from each scan. By doing so, the screen of the document is copied onto two pages of recording paper.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional continuous page copying, one original screen is copied by scanning the original twice, so that the copying speed is low and productivity is not good. There was a problem to say.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a copying apparatus which enables high-speed continuous page copying and has high copy productivity.

[0007]

The object of the present invention is as follows.
(1) reading means for reading an image of a document, storage means for storing image data for one screen of the document obtained by processing the output of the reading means, and one screen of the document stored in the storage means Reading means for dividing the image data into two units of image data corresponding to two images separated by a predetermined boundary, and reading out the image data on the recording paper for each unit from the image data read by the reading means. Form 2
A copying apparatus having image forming means for obtaining an image of a page; (2) reading means for scanning an original to read the image of the original; Storage means for storing the obtained image data, reading means for dividing and reading the image data stored in the storage means into two units of image data corresponding to two images separated by a predetermined boundary, and the reading means A copying apparatus having image forming means for forming an image on recording paper for each unit from the read image data to obtain a two-page image; and (3) an image of the original by scanning the original Reading means for reading the image data, dividing means for dividing image data obtained by one scanning by the reading means into two units, and forming the divided image data on a recording sheet for each unit to form a two-page recorded image. Images to get And (4) reading means for scanning an original to read an image of the original, and copying the image data corresponding to one screen of the original obtained by scanning by the reading means. This is achieved by a copying apparatus characterized by having a dividing means for dividing into units and an image forming means for forming divided image data on recording paper for each unit to obtain a recorded image of two pages.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes an image forming unit for forming an image on a recording paper by an electrophotographic system, 20 denotes an image reading unit for reading an image of a document and outputs image data, 30
Reference numeral denotes a post-processing unit that performs post-processing such as sorting, stapling, and punching on the recording paper discharged from the image forming unit 10.

The image forming section 10 has a photoconductor 11, forms a toner image on the photoconductor 11 by charging, exposing, and developing, and transfers the toner image formed on the photoconductor 11 to recording paper. The image forming unit 12 includes paper feed units 13a, 13b, 13c, and 13d for storing recording paper on which an image is formed, a recording paper reversing unit 14 for double-sided image formation, and a fixing unit 15 for fixing a toner image on the recording paper. .

The image reading section 20 includes a document feed table 21 on which a document is placed, a platen roller 22 for conveying the document and forming a reading position, a document discharge table 23 on which a read document is placed, and an image light. An image sensor 24 that receives light and converts it into an image signal, a movable scanning unit 25 composed of a lamp and a mirror for illuminating the original and scanning the original placed on the original mounting table 27, and two mirrors, It has a scanning unit 26 that is movable at half the speed of the unit 25.

The image reading section 20 has a document reading function of transporting and reading a document from a document feeding table 21 and a document reading function of scanning and reading a still document placed on a document table 27.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the copying apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, A denotes a scanner having the image sensor 24, the A / D conversion circuit, and the shading correction circuit in FIG.
B is an image processing unit that performs image processing such as sharpness processing, scaling processing, and gradation correction processing. C is a storage unit called a frame memory that stores image data for one or two screens of a document. It has a capacity to store image data of a document whose A3 size is the maximum size. D is a data compression unit for compressing image data, and E is a storage unit for storing compressed image data, and has a capacity to store, for example, images of 100 A4 size originals. The accumulating section accumulates image data of a large number of originals, records an image from the accumulated image data, and can copy a large number of copies from one image reading. F is an expansion unit that expands the image data read from the memory E to form image data capable of forming an image. G is an image forming unit having a semiconductor laser and a laser driving circuit. The storage means C and the storage means E are composed of one memory element,
Each function can be provided by dividing the storage area. Also, different memory elements can be used for each. H is a control unit for controlling the image forming systems A to G.

In the copying apparatus having such a configuration, copying can be performed in a one-to-one correspondence between the screen of the original and the page of the recording paper. However, the image of one screen of the original is divided into two and recorded. Copies can also be made in the continuous page copy mode for copying two pages of paper. Such a copy mode is selected by operating an operation button provided on the operation panel. That is, one-to-one copying is performed by simply pressing the copy start button, while copying in the page continuous shooting mode is performed by operating the page continuous shooting button (not shown) to set the page continuous shooting mode. rear,
This is executed by pressing the copy start button.

Copying in the page continuous shooting mode is performed by using the storage means C. Next, continuous page copying using this memory will be described.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a copying process using the continuous page copying function in the present embodiment.

The original placed on the original placing table 27 is moved and scanned by the scanning units 25 and 26 as shown by arrows in FIG. This scanning is indicated by arrows S1 and S2 in FIG. S1 in FIG. 3A indicates the first time, that is, scanning of the first screen of the document. By scanning S1, FIG.
The image data G1 corresponding to the image as shown in (b) is obtained. The image data G1 is bisected by the line L, and FIG.
Image data R1 and R2 as shown in (c) are obtained.

The arrow S2 in FIG. 3A indicates the second scanning, that is, the scanning of the second screen of the document. Although not shown,
By this scanning S2, image data R3 and R4 are obtained.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a static original is scanned and copied in the continuous page mode as indicated by S1 and S2. Is conveyed to the reading position, and a moving document can be scanned and read, and copying can be performed in the continuous page mode. Also in this case, copying is performed by dividing the image into two in the document transport direction, that is, the sub-scanning direction.

The dividing line L is a line that bisects the image of the original and is determined as follows.

In the case of so-called manual setting in which an operator inputs a document size into a copying apparatus and sets it, a position corresponding to a half of the input document size is set as a dividing line L.

Further, the document feeding table 21 or the document table 27
If the document size detection device detects the size of the document placed on the document and the document size is automatically detected by the document size detection device and copying is performed, that is, in the case of automatic setting, division is performed. Line L is a half of the detected original size
Is a line indicating a position corresponding to.

The processing of image data as shown in FIG.
Is performed in the following manner. An image signal obtained by reading by the scanner A is output to an image processing unit B.
Is stored in the storage unit C after the sharpness processing and the scaling processing are performed, and G1 and G shown in FIG.
2... Gn are stored. When the storage unit C stores image data of one page of the document, the image data G1, G2, G3,.
Updated and stored. The storage unit C may be configured to store two pages of image data. In this case, two one-page storage areas in the storage unit C are used alternately.

As shown in FIG. 4, image data G1 of the first screen of the document is 2
It is equally divided and divided into units R1 and R2. Unit R1,
R2 is image data for the first page and the second page of the recording paper, respectively.

As described above, by dividing the image data for one page of the document into two using the storage section C, the image can be accurately divided with the center line (line L in FIG. 3) of the document screen as a boundary. Can be. Divided image data R1, R
2, R3,... Rn are compressed by the compression unit D and stored in the storage unit E.
Is accumulated in By storing the data after the compression processing in the storage unit E, data of a large number of images can be stored, and a large number of originals can be read.

In the storage section E, as shown in FIG.
Units R1, R2, R3. . . Address r representing R2n
1, r2, r3... R2n.

The control of reading the image data from the storage unit C, dividing the read image data, storing the divided image data in the storage unit E, and reading the image data from the storage unit E is performed by the control unit. H.

In the extension part F, the units R1, R2, R3,.
The image data read each time is decompressed to form image data. In the image forming section G, a semiconductor laser is driven by the image data, the photosensitive member is exposed, and an image is formed by an electrophotographic process including charging, exposure, and transfer.

Thus, the image of the n-page original is 2n
Copied as a recorded page.

In this embodiment, the data compression is performed after the division in the storage unit C. However, the storage unit C is arranged after the storage unit E, and the image stored in the storage unit E after the compression processing is processed. After the data is decompressed, the data may be stored in the storage unit C, divided into two when read from the storage unit C, and an image may be formed in the image forming unit G.

Further, in the present embodiment, the image of the original is divided in the sub-scanning direction in reading the original as shown in FIG. 3, but the image data stored in the storage means is divided. It is also possible to divide the data in the main scanning direction in reading and record it on two pages of recording paper.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, image data output from the scanner A and processed by the image processing unit B is processed by the compression / decompression unit J, then stored in the storage unit E, read from the storage unit E, and read out of the image forming unit. Image recording is performed by a recording process in which an image is formed by the unit G and a recording process in which an image is transmitted directly from the image processing unit B to the image forming unit G without passing through the storage unit E. Can be.

At the time of starting the copying apparatus when copying a large number of copies, the selector K transmits the image data from the image processing section B to the image forming section G to perform image recording, and stores the image data. Then, by reading the image data from the storage unit E, transmitting the image data to the image forming unit G via the selector K, and performing recording, efficient copying can be performed.

In the copying apparatus shown in FIG. 5, when performing copying by continuous page copying, image data for one screen of a document read by one scan and processed by the image processing unit B is located at the center of the image of the document. The image is divided into two and transmitted to the image forming unit G,
An image is formed on a sheet of recording paper.

When copying is performed using the storage unit E, image data for one screen of a document is divided into two units, compressed by the compression / decompression unit J, and stored in the storage unit E.
Then, the image data is read from the storage unit E for each page at the time of recording, that is, for each divided unit, and an image is formed on two recording sheets in the image forming unit G.

[0036]

By dividing the image data, 1
Since the image of the page is copied on the recording paper of two pages, the copying in the continuous page mode can be performed at a high speed, and the copying productivity is greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a copying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the copying apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a copying process performed by using the page continuous copying function in the copying apparatus shown in FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a memory map of a storage unit of the copying apparatus shown in FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a copying apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A scanner B image processing unit C storage unit D compression unit E storage unit F expansion unit G image formation unit H control unit

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H027 EC02 EC20 ED06 EE07 EE08 EF09 FA30 FD03 FD08 2H076 AA58 AB71 5C073 AA02 BB01 CC01 CE01 5C076 AA36 BA03 BA04 BA06 CA10

Claims (15)

[Claims] A reading means for reading an image of the document; a storage means capable of storing image data for one screen of the document obtained by processing an output of the reading means; Reading means for dividing the image data for one screen into two units of image data corresponding to two images separated by a predetermined boundary and reading the image data, and printing the image data read by the reading means on a recording sheet for each unit An image forming means for forming an image to obtain a two-page image. 2. The copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the boundary is a center line of the document. 3. A storage device for storing image data of a large number of documents, wherein the image data read from the storage device is stored in the storage device for each divided unit. The copying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 4. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store image data of a large number of documents, storing image data obtained by processing an output of said reading unit in said storage unit, and reading out the image data from said storage unit. The copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein image data is stored in the storage unit. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising compression means for compressing the image data so as to store the image data in the storage means, and expansion means for expanding the image data read from the storage means. The copying apparatus according to claim 4. 6. The copying apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the image data read from the storage unit is compressed by the compression unit and then stored in the storage unit. 7. The copying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image data read from the storage unit is expanded by the expansion unit, and the expanded image data is stored in the storage unit. 8. A reading unit that scans a document to read an image of the document, a processing unit that processes an output of the reading unit and stores image data obtained by one scan, and a storage unit that stores the image data. Reading means for dividing the read image data into two units of image data corresponding to two images separated by a predetermined boundary, and forming an image on recording paper for each unit from the image data read by the reading means An image forming means for obtaining an image of two pages. 9. The copying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the boundary is determined according to a size of a document to be read. 10. A reading unit that scans a document to read an image of the document, a dividing unit that divides image data obtained by one scan by the reading unit into two units, and divides the divided image data into each unit. Image forming means for forming a two-page recorded image on recording paper. 11. The copying apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the divided two units of image data are stored in a storage unit that stores the image data separately. 12. The copying apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a compression unit, wherein the image data compressed by the compression unit is stored in the storage unit. 13. Reading means for scanning a document to read an image of the document, dividing means for dividing image data corresponding to one screen of the document obtained by scanning by the reading means into two units, and divided image data Image forming means for forming a recording image of two pages by forming the image on recording paper for each unit. 14. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the divided two units of image data are separately stored in storage means.
2. The copying apparatus according to claim 1. 15. The copying apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a compression unit, wherein the image data compressed by the compression unit is stored in the storage unit.