JP2001071586A - Image processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus having high breaking strength, easy to carry and easy in the attachment of the handle part. SOLUTION: A handle part 90 is enhanced in strength because the bag-like part 92 of a housing 2 is inserted in the hole part 73 of a side frame member 71 and the planar part 93 of the housing 2 is in contact with the canopy part 74 of the side frame member 71 and the leg part 75 of the side frame member 71 is fixed to a bottom frame member 70. Therefore the wt. of an image processing apparatus is supported at a time of carrying by the canopy part 74, the leg part 75 and the bottom frame member 70 to prevent the damage of the apparatus caused by the destruction of the handle part 90 and the damage of a user's foot accompanied by the falling of the apparatus. Further, the handle part 90 can be easily attached by inserting the bag-like part 92 in the hole part 73 and, by hooking user's fingers with the inner wall of the bag-like part 92, the apparatus can be easily carried.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an image reading section for converting an image of a document into an electric signal and reading the image, and a paper sheet or the like based on the image data read by the image reading section. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus including an image printing unit that prints an image on a print medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image reading apparatus which moves a carriage equipped with a color image pickup means having a line sensor such as a CCD in parallel with a document surface and reads an image of the document.

[0003] For example, in the case of a flat bed type image reading apparatus, a platen made of a transparent plate such as glass for placing a document is provided on the upper surface of a box-shaped casing. A carriage that is moved by a driving device in parallel with the document table is provided. The carriage is provided with a light source and a color imaging unit. Irradiation light from the light source is reflected on the surface of the document on the document table, and is condensed on a color image pickup means by a condenser lens.

In the above-described image reading apparatus, it is necessary to finally print out the read image data. Therefore, an image is displayed on a monitor using a processing device such as a personal computer, and a desired image is selected. Printout by a printing device such as a printer.

[0005]

When performing an image printing process using a personal computer, a user performs a command input operation specified by an operation system, and a print processing application program and a printer driver are stored therein. For example, it is necessary to take the data from a storage device such as a magnetic disk into the internal memory of the personal computer and make it executable.

However, there is a problem that it takes a long time to input a command or to take in a print processing application program and a printer driver, and it takes a long time to start up. In addition, there are many problems to be solved in order to make full use of a personal computer. For example, there are a large number of users who cannot use a computer even if they have a personal computer.These users print out an image read by an image reading device. Even if an attempt is made to install the software, there is a possibility that the installation itself is difficult or that a command input method cannot be understood.

Therefore, an image reading unit that converts an image of a document into an electric signal and reads the image, and an image printing unit that prints the image on a print medium such as paper based on the image data read by the image reading unit are provided. An image processing apparatus that prints an image based on image data read without connecting to a personal computer can be considered. In such an image processing apparatus, it is a general configuration that the image reading unit and the image printing unit have a two-story structure, the image reading unit is arranged in the upper stage, and the image printing unit is arranged in the lower stage.

However, in the image processing apparatus having the above configuration, when a handle for carrying is provided in a housing for accommodating the image reading section and the image printing section, an image reading apparatus having the image reading section alone, Since the weight is larger than that of an image printing apparatus having an image printing unit alone, there is a problem that the handle may be broken when the apparatus is carried and the apparatus may be damaged. In addition, when the handle is broken during carrying, there is a problem that the device may fall under the user's feet and the user may be injured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has as its object to provide an image processing apparatus having a handle portion having a high strength. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus that is easy to carry and assemble with a handle.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus, comprising: a housing for accommodating an image reading section and an image printing section; and a connection section between a frame member forming a frame of the housing. Since the handle portion is provided, the strength of the handle portion is improved, and there is an effect that the handle portion is not easily broken during carrying. Therefore,
Since the handle portion is not easily broken during carrying, the device can be prevented from being damaged, and the device can be prevented from falling under the user's feet and being injured.

According to the image processing apparatus of the second aspect of the present invention, since the handle has the uneven portion formed near the connection portion of the housing with the frame member, the user can remove the uneven portion. By using the device, the device can be easily carried. Therefore, it is possible to increase the degree of safety for preventing the device from falling when being carried.

According to the image processing apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, the handle is formed at a position corresponding to the uneven portion of the frame member and has a hole through which the uneven portion can be inserted. The handle can be easily assembled by inserting the concave and convex portions into the holes at the time of attachment.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 9 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an image processing apparatus provided with a carriage moving type flat bed type image reading unit and an ink jet type dark and light color image printing unit.

As shown in FIG. 6, the image processing apparatus 100
Comprises a scanner unit 20, a signal processing unit 10, a printer unit 50, an operation unit 30, a power supply unit 40, and a handle unit 90. A carriage 3, a signal processing unit 10, a printer unit 50, a power supply unit 4,
0 is housed in the housing 2 as a housing. The scanner unit 20, the signal processing unit 10, the printer unit 50, the operation unit 30, and the power supply unit 40 are separated by a main frame member 60 made of sheet metal. The signal processing unit 10, the printer unit 50, and the power supply unit 40 are surrounded on four sides by a main frame member 60, a sheet metal bottom frame member 70, and sheet metal side frame members 71 and 72. The handle portions 90 are provided on both sides of the side frame members 71 and 72. Here, the main frame member 60, the bottom frame member 70, and the side frame members 71 and 72 form a framework of the housing 2.

The scanner unit 20 is provided with a document table 1 made of a transparent plate such as glass on the upper surface of a housing 2. A carriage 3 is provided inside the housing 2 as an image reading unit that can reciprocate in parallel to the document table 1 by a driving unit (not shown), and a light source 4 and a color imaging unit 5 are mounted on the carriage 3. ing. The light emitted from the light source 4 is reflected on the surface of the document 8 on the document table 1, reflected by a plurality of mirrors 6, and then condensed on the color imaging means 5 by the condensing lens 7. The color imaging means 5 is provided with a red (R:
Red), green (G: Green) and blue (B: Blu)
e) convert each light into an electric signal and output. The reflection from the plurality of mirrors 6 increases the optical path length from the document 8 to the condenser lens 7. At the end of the document table 1 in the direction of movement of the carriage 3, a white reference 9 having a highly reflective uniform reflection surface is provided. When reading a transparent original such as a photographic film, a second light source is provided above the original table 1 and moves with the movement of the carriage 3.

As shown in FIG. 7, the white reference 9 of the scanner unit 20 is provided at one end of the document table 1, and the white reference 9 is set before the image reading of the carriage 3, that is, when the power of the carriage 3 is turned off or when the white It is arranged to overlap the initial position at the time of reference reading. The carriage 3 is electrically connected to the signal processing unit 10 shown in FIG. 6 by a flexible flat cable 31 described later. On the upper surface of the housing 2, near the reading origin 1 a of the document table 1, an origin position display unit 2
1 is provided. That is, the origin position display unit 21
It is provided on one end side of the carriage 3 at the white reference 9 and the initial position.

On the upper side of the housing 2 and on the side opposite to the original table with respect to the white reference 9 and the initial position of the carriage 3, the maintenance door 2 is provided.
The maintenance door 22 is an opening / closing door that connects or disconnects communication between the inside and the outside of the scanner unit 20. The maintenance door 22 has a projection (not shown), and this projection can be fitted into a hole (not shown) when the maintenance door 22 shown in FIG. 7 is closed. A light-shielding sensor (not shown) as a sensor is provided in the hole, and this light-shielding sensor is electrically connected to the control means 14 shown in FIG. Therefore, when the power is turned on, the control means 14 can detect whether or not the protrusion is fitted into the hole, that is, the open / closed state of the maintenance door 22 by the light-shielding sensor. Therefore, the control means 1
Numeral 4 controls the carriage 3 according to the open / close state of the maintenance door 22, and can move the carriage 3 to a retracted position indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 7 or an initial position indicated by a solid line in FIG. In this embodiment, when the maintenance door 22 is in the open state, the user inserts his hand through the opening to clean the white reference 9 and the platen 1, or removes the detachable partition 32 described later to remove the printer unit 50. It is configured to be able to maintain paper jams and the like in the inside.

A frame member 33 is provided in an opening formed in the main frame member 60 and communicating with the scanner section 20 and the printer section 50. In this frame member 33,
A removable partition wall 32 made of a transparent member and detachable from the frame member 33 is provided. The removable partition wall 32 can move on a rail (not shown) of the frame member 33 in the same direction as the moving direction of the carriage 3. Removable partition 32
Is moved on the rail portion, thereby the detachable partition 32
Can be removed from the frame member 33, and the removable partition wall 32 can be attached to the frame member 33.

The flexible flat cable 31 has one end electrically connected to the carriage 3 and the other end electrically connected to the signal processing unit 10 shown in FIG. The flexible flat cable 31 has a plurality of conductive wires inside, and the conductive wires are covered with a coating for preventing a short circuit with another member. As the coating, a flexible film is used to secure the flexibility of the flexible flat cable 31. The flexible flat cable 31 has an intermediate portion between the connecting portion of the carriage 3 and the connecting portion of the signal processing unit 10 folded back, the folded portion 35 being sandwiched by the frame member 33, and being fixed to the main frame member 60. The flexible flat cable 31
A sufficient bending is provided between the connection portion of the carriage 3 and the folded portion 35. Further, the flexible flat cable 31 includes the folded portion 35 and the signal processing portion 1.
An L-shaped bent portion 36 is provided between the connection portion 0 and the connection portion 0.
The connection between the flexible flat cable 31 and the signal processing unit 10 is facilitated.

As shown in FIG. 8, the signal processing unit 10 includes an amplifier 11, an A / D conversion unit 12, and a shading correction unit 1.
3, a gamma correction unit 16, other correction units 17, and a control unit 14. The control means 14 includes a CPU, R
It is composed of a microcomputer including an AM and a ROM.

The A / D converter 12 converts the data input from the color image pickup means 5 via the amplifier 11 into a digital signal and transfers the digital signal to the shading corrector 13. This digital signal is a signal indicating a numerical value from 0 to 1023 when, for example, the read gradation is 10 bits.
The shading correction unit 13 sets the white reference 9 before starting reading.
Using the data obtained by reading the data, the variation in the sensitivity of each element of the photoelectric conversion element array and the variation in the light amount of the light source 4 are corrected.
Then, the pixel data subjected to the shading correction is sent to the gamma correction unit 16. The gamma correction unit 16 performs gamma correction using a predetermined gamma function, and the A / D conversion unit 1
2 is converted into an image signal. The other correction unit 17 performs various conversions such as color correction, edge enhancement, and area enlargement / reduction.

The operation unit 30 shown in FIG. 6 has an operation panel (not shown) exposed from the housing 2 to the outside. The operation panel is provided with a print switch (not shown). When the print switch is turned on, the printer unit 5 connected to the scanner unit 20 via the signal processing unit 10 is turned on.
0 enables printing of an image. further,
When the image processing apparatus 100 is connected to a personal computer (not shown), the image data read by the scanner unit 20 is transferred to the personal computer by operating the operation unit 30, and a floppy disk, C
An image can be printed by the printer unit 50 based on image data stored in a computer-readable storage medium such as a D-ROM or a magneto-optical disk (MO).

The power supply section 40 has an A / C of 200 V or A / C
/ C 120V, the scanner unit 20, the signal processing unit 10, and the operation unit 30.
And power to the printer unit 50.

The printer section 50 includes a paper feeding means (not shown) and a print head 51 as an image printing section. The print head 51 expands and contracts the volume of the ink chamber by applying a voltage to the pressure generating means in accordance with the drive signal from the control means 14 shown in FIG. It can be ejected on paper that does not. An ink tank (not shown) that stores six color inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), light cyan (c), light magenta (m), yellow (Y), and black (K). It includes six rows of nozzles (not shown) arranged perpendicularly to the direction in which the print head 51 moves. By using six color inks of cyan (C), magenta (M), light cyan (c), light magenta (m), yellow (Y) and black (K),
Extremely smooth gradation can be expressed, and the dots of the ink droplets can be made inconspicuous even in a portion having a high brightness, such as a skin color. A color image can also be printed by combining four colors of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K). When printing black by superimposing the C, M, and Y inks, the K ink can be omitted.

Next, the handle portion 90 will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is schematically shown for simplicity of description. As shown in FIG.
The housing 2 includes a bag-shaped portion 92 that forms a concave portion 91 that is recessed toward the inside. The bag-shaped portion 92 has a flat portion 93 on which a flat upper surface is formed. As shown in FIG. 5, a hole 73 is formed in the side frame member 71 at a position corresponding to the bag-shaped portion 92 of the housing 2, and the hole 73 is formed in the bag-shaped portion of the housing 2. 92 can be inserted.
Above the hole 73, there is provided an eave portion 74 that projects inward and outward. A leg 75 extending toward the inside is provided below the side frame member 71.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bag-like portion 92 of the housing 2 is inserted into a hole 73 of the side frame member 71, and the flat portion 93 of the bag-like portion 92 is 71 is in contact with the eave portion 74. The leg 75 of the side frame member 71 is fixed to the bottom frame member 70 by a screw or the like (not shown). Here, the contact portion between the flat portion 93 and the eave portion 74 constitutes a "connection portion" described in the claims. That is, the handle portion 90 is provided at a connection portion between the housing 2 and the connection portion side frame member 71. In addition, the bag-shaped portion 92
Constitutes a “concavo-convex portion” described in the claims. That is, the handle portion 90 has an uneven portion formed near the connection portion of the housing 2 and a hole into which the uneven portion can be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the handle member 90 having the above-described structure is configured so that the bag-like portion 92 of the housing 2 is
By inserting the flat portion 93 of the bag-shaped portion 92 into the eave portion 74 of the side frame member 71 by inserting it into the first hole portion 73, it is possible to easily assemble the device. The handle member 90 assembled in the above procedure has the strength improved by the side frame member 71, and the user inserts his hand into the concave portion 91 of the housing 2,
The device can be easily carried by putting a finger on the inner wall of the bag-shaped portion 92. At this time, since the eaves portion 74 and the leg portion 75 of the side frame member 71 and the bottom frame member 70 support the weight of the device, it is possible to prevent the handle member 90 from being broken during carrying. Since the side frame member 72 shown in FIG. 6 has the same configuration as the side frame member 71,
Description is omitted.

Next, the operation of the image processing apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described. (1) The user places the document 8 on the document table 1 of the scanner unit 20 and presses the print switch of the operation unit 30 to instruct the reading of the document 8. In step S1 shown in FIG. 9, when reading is instructed, the control unit 14 turns on the light source 4 or the second light source, and moves the carriage 3 at a constant speed in the sub-scanning direction. An image of one line is read by each photoelectric conversion element array of the color imaging unit 5 by a drive signal generated at predetermined time intervals, and pixel data is output to the signal processing unit 10 in step S2 shown in FIG.

(2) In step S3 shown in FIG. 9, the analog pixel data output to the signal processing unit 10 is A / A
It is converted into digital pixel data by the D conversion unit 12,
The shading is corrected by the shading correction unit 13 and sent to the gamma correction unit 16. Then, gamma correction is performed by a predetermined gamma function.

(3) In step S4 shown in FIG. 9, the other correction unit 17 performs a color correction process on the RGB data and converts it into CMYK gradation bit image data for printing. Then, the obtained CMYK gradation bit image data is distributed to each data of light and shade by a light and shade ink table, and further subjected to halftone processing such as dither method, error diffusion, etc., and distribution of dark and light colors on a bit map for each color or The arrangement is determined, and a binary bitmap is created for each. The bitmap data subjected to the halftone process is temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the RAM of the control unit 14.

(4) In step S5 shown in FIG. 9, the CPU of the control means 14 sends a print preparation end signal to the printer unit 50, and checks the printing operation state of the printer unit 50. The printer unit 50 sends a print data transfer request signal to the CPU of the control device 14 when the printing operation is possible.

(5) In step S6 shown in FIG. 9, the CPU of the control means 14 executes DMA (Direct Memory Access)
The print control data and the bitmap data for each color are sequentially transmitted to the printer unit 50 by the transfer. The printer unit 50 prints an image with the print head 51 based on the print data sequentially taken out of the RAM of the control unit 14.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the bag-like portion 92 of the housing 2 is inserted into the hole 73 of the side frame member 71, and the flat portion 93 of the housing 2 is connected to the eaves of the side frame member 71. Since the leg portion 75 of the side frame member 71 is fixed to the bottom frame member 70 because it is in contact with the portion 74, the strength of the handle portion 90 is improved. Therefore, the side frame member 71 is
By supporting the weight of the image processing device 100 with the eaves portion 74 and the leg portion 75 and the bottom frame member 70, damage to the image processing device 100 due to destruction of the handle portion 90 can be prevented, and the image processing device 100 can be dropped. The accompanying injury to the feet of the user can be prevented.

Further, in this embodiment, the bag-like portion 92 of the housing 2 is inserted into the hole 73 of the side frame member 71,
By making the flat portion 93 of the bag-shaped portion 92 abut the eave portion 74 of the side frame member 71, the handle portion 90 can be easily assembled, and the user inserts his hand into the concave portion 91 of the housing 2. Then, by placing a finger on the inner wall of the bag-shaped portion 92, the image processing apparatus 100 can be easily carried.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above, the present invention is applied to the image processing apparatus 100 provided with the carriage moving type flat bed type scanner unit 20. It is possible to apply the present invention to an image processing apparatus having a mirror moving type flat bed type scanner unit for moving a reflection mirror group, and to have another scanner unit such as a sheet feed type for moving and reading an original. It is also possible to apply the present invention to an image processing apparatus that has been used.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the present invention is applied to the image processing apparatus 100 including the printer unit 50 using the print head 51 of the ink jet system. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Also, the present invention can be applied to an image processing apparatus provided with a printer unit using various print heads such as a dot impact method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a handle of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion II in FIG. 7;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a housing and a side frame member for explaining a method of assembling a handle of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a housing and illustrating a handle of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a side frame member for explaining a handle of the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an image processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image printing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Document stand 2 Housing (housing) 3 Carriage (image reading part) 4 Light source 5 Color imaging means 6 Mirror 7 Condensing lens 8 Document 10 Signal processing part 14 Control means 20 Scanner part 30 Operation part 40 Power supply part 50 Printer part 51 Print head (image printing section) 60 Main frame member 70 Bottom frame member 71, 72 Side frame member 73 Hole portion 74 Eave portion 75 Leg portion 90 Handle portion 91 Depressed portion 92 Bag-shaped portion (irregular portion) 93 Flat portion 100 Image processing device

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AQ01 AQ05 AR01 BB17 BB35 CD01 CD24 2H071 AA53 AA54 5C024 AA01 CA32 DA04 FA02 HA14 5C062 AA05 AB00 AD06 BA00

Claims (3)

[Claims] An image pickup means for converting light into an electric signal and outputting the electric signal, a light source for irradiating a document, a mirror radiated from the light source and reflecting light reflected on the document surface or transmitted through the document surface, and An image reading unit having a condensing lens that collects reflected light on the imaging unit; an image printing unit that prints an image on a print medium based on image data read by the image reading unit; A housing for accommodating the image printing unit; a frame member provided in the housing to form a framework of the housing; and a handle provided at a connection between the housing and the frame member. Image processing device. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the handle has an uneven portion formed near the connection portion of the housing. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the handle portion is formed at a position corresponding to the uneven portion of the frame member, and has a hole into which the uneven portion can be inserted.