JP2001292263A - Original sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sort originals with high accuracy and satisfactory workability in the case of sorting black-and-white originals and color originals. SOLUTION: This original sorter is provided with an image read means 2 for reading image data from the original, on which an image is drawn, an original identifying means for identifying the original as black-and-white image when a color component signal comprising these image data belongs to any one of specified color space expressing a specified color and a black-and-white space expressing an achromatic color and identifying the image as color image in the other case, and original sorting means 3, 4 and 5 for sorting the original, from which the image data are read, on the basis of the identified result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document separation apparatus for separating a document from which an image has been read, according to whether the document is a color document or a monochrome document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the concept of emphasizing the recycling of paper resources has been spreading, and the recycling of unnecessary paper resources and the processing of recycled paper have been widely performed. However, in order to recycle paper resources, it is indispensable to separate paper resources according to the type of paper resources, and if the accuracy of the separation is poor, it becomes difficult to recycle paper resources. Such separation of paper resources is often performed manually by human eyes, but this makes the separation work very cumbersome, and there is a possibility that separation errors may occur due to human judgment. is there.

For this reason, it has recently been proposed to improve the workability of paper resource separation and the accuracy of the separation by utilizing the result of optical image reading of paper resources to be separated. ing. For example, JP-A-7-20
Japanese Patent Publication No. 750 proposes an apparatus that reads paper quality information from a paper document to be read and classifies paper of the same quality from a mixture of multiple types of paper qualities. Also, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-282737 proposes an apparatus that reads color information from a specific area of a document to be read and separates the document. Further, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-293503, an image is read from both sides of a document to be read, and if the page is blank, the document is sent not to a discharge tray but to a sheet feeding device for forming an image. There has been proposed an apparatus that enables the original to be reused by sending the original.

[0004]

However, for example, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-20750, a configuration for preliminarily writing paper quality information on a paper manuscript and reading the same to read the contents of the paper quality information Therefore, it is necessary to provide a configuration for judging the image reading, so that it is necessary to make a significant change to a general image reading apparatus, which may cause a great increase in cost. Further, for example, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-282737 is a configuration for filing that separates originals by identifying color information of a specific area, but the original to be recycled is located in any area. Since it is impossible to predict in advance which color is formed, it cannot be said that the composition is for recycling. Furthermore, for example, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-293503, it is determined whether or not a document has a blank surface and is reused. Therefore, a blank document can be reused. However, other unnecessary documents cannot be dealt with, and a manual sorting operation is required as in the case described above.

In addition, in the above-described conventional techniques, in any case, there is a possibility that it is not possible to reliably discriminate between a monochrome document and a color document which are the most important in recycling. For example, if a black and white document is marked with a colored marker pen or the like, it is mistakenly classified as a color document. In addition, even if it looks like a black-and-white original at first glance, actually three color toners (YMC)
A monochrome image formed by color (YMCK) may be erroneously classified as being formed by monochrome toner.

Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to perform high-precision and high-operability document separation in separating a black-and-white document and a color document. In addition, the configuration of a general image reading apparatus is greatly reduced. An object of the present invention is to provide a document sorting apparatus that does not need to be changed.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a document separating apparatus devised to achieve the above object, comprising image reading means for reading image data from a document on which an image is drawn, and comprising the image data. If the color component signal belongs to at least one of a specific color space representing a specific color and a black-and-white space representing an achromatic color, the image drawn on the document is identified as a black-and-white image. Document identification means for identifying a color image, and document separation means for separating the document whose image data is read by the image reading means based on the identification result by the document identification means, It is a feature.

According to the above-described document separation apparatus, when the image reading means reads the image data, the color component signals constituting the image data are switched between a specific color space representing a specific color and a monochrome space representing an achromatic color. The document identification means determines whether the document belongs to any one of them. The specific color belonging to the specific color space includes, for example, a color that can be added later by marking, more specifically, a color of a marker pen, and the like. If the color component signal belongs to such a specific color space or black-and-white space, the document identifying unit identifies that the document read by the image reading unit is a monochrome document.
Therefore, by performing document separation based on the identification result, the document separation unit does not erroneously separate a monochrome document with a colored marking as a color document.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided image reading means for irradiating an infrared ray to an original on which an image is drawn to read image data from the original, and drawing the image on the original based on a result of reading by the image reading means. Document identification means for identifying whether an image is formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material, and image data read by the image reading means based on the identification result by the document identification means. And a document separation unit for separating the separated documents.

According to the document separating apparatus having the above configuration, when the image reading means reads the image data, the document to be read is irradiated with infrared rays. Then, based on the reading result, the document identification unit determines whether or not the image drawn on the document is formed by the color toner containing the infrared absorbing material. Therefore, by performing the document separation based on the identification result, the document separation unit allows the image to appear even if it is an image formed by the black and white toner.
Actually, if a black-and-white image is formed by a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material, it will not be classified as a black-and-white document.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

[First Embodiment] Here, a document sorting apparatus according to the first, second and third aspects of the present invention will be described. First, an outline of the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. 1 to 3 are schematic diagrams each showing an outline of an example of a document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

The document sorting apparatus according to the embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, an automatic document feeder (Duplex Automatic Document Feeder) on which a paper document (hereinafter, referred to as "document before reading") 1a to be sorted is placed, and the document 1a before reading is sequentially fed out and transported. The following "DAD
F ”), and an image reading device 2 that reads an optical image from an original fed from the DADF 1
And a document storage device 3 for storing a document after image reading by the image reading device 2 into a color document 3a and a black-and-white document 3b.

The DADF 1 is an image reading device 2
As long as the original 1a is sequentially fed out, a so-called ADF that does not have a function of inverting the original 1a and causing the image reading device 2 to read both sides may be used.

Further, even if the document storage device 3 is disposed on the side of the DADF 1 and the image reading device 2 as shown in FIG. 1, it is located below the image reading device 2 as shown in FIG. It may be provided. However, in any case, the DADF 1 and the document storage device 3 are connected by the document conveyance path 4, and
A transport path switching mechanism 5 for selectively separating and discharging the transported document is provided above.

The separation and storage of the color original 3a and the black-and-white original 3b by the original storage device 3 is performed by the image reading device 2.
This is performed based on the result of the image reading in. For this reason, the image reading apparatus 2 is configured as follows to read image data from the original document 1a fed by the DADF 1. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a reading principle of the image reading apparatus used in the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the image reading apparatus 2 has a document (hereinafter, referred to as a "set document") fed by the DADF 1 on its upper surface.
) Is provided. Below the platen glass 11, a first carriage (hereinafter, the carriage is abbreviated as "CRG") 12
And a second CRG 13.

The first CRG 12 is equipped with a lamp 12a for irradiating the set document 10 on the platen glass 11, and a first mirror 12b for changing the optical axis direction of the reflected light from the set document 10 obtained by the irradiation. I have. Also,
The second CRG 13 has a second mirror 13a and a third mirror 13b for changing the optical axis direction of the reflected light from the first mirror 12b. Each of these CRG1
Both 2 and 13 can move in the sub-scanning direction (the direction of arrow A in the figure) along the platen glass 11,
In addition, the second CRG 13 moves at half the speed of the first CRG 12 so that the distance between the set document 10 on the platen glass 11 and the photoelectric conversion element 15 described later is always kept constant. In addition, each CRG12,13
Is performed by operating a drive source (not shown).

Below the platen glass 11, a lens 14 for condensing the reflected light from the set document 10 passing through each of the CRGs 12 and 13 at a predetermined focal position, and a reflected light after condensing at the focal position And a photoelectric conversion element 15 such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) for receiving the light and converting the light into an analog electric signal.

Below the photoelectric conversion elements 15 and the like, operation control of the entire document separation apparatus including the image reading apparatus 2 and predetermined signal processing for electric signals obtained by the photoelectric conversion elements 15 are performed. , A control board (not shown) is provided.

In the image reading apparatus 2 having such a configuration, when the lamp 12a on the first CRG 12 irradiates the read surface of the set document 10 on the platen glass 11, the reflected light is reflected by the first mirror 12b. Light enters the second mirror 13 a on the second CRG 13. The reflected light that has entered the second mirror 13a is imaged by the lens 14 via the third mirror 13b, and enters the photoelectric conversion element 15. Then, in the photoelectric conversion element 15, for example, it is converted into an electric signal of each color component of R, G, B. Therefore, in the image reading apparatus 2, if each of the CRGs 12 and 13 moves in the sub-scanning direction while irradiating the read surface of the set document 10, image data can be read from the entire surface of the set document 10.

Next, a description will be given of a functional configuration of the document separating apparatus configured as described above. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the entire document sorting apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a main part thereof.

As shown in FIG. 5, the document separation apparatus includes an image reading control unit 21, a DADF control unit 22, an illumination control unit 2,
3, scanning control unit 24, analog correction and shading correction unit 25, image processing unit 26, ACS (Auto Color S
election) section 27, a transport path switching control section 28, and a document storage apparatus control section 29.

The image reading control section 21 has a ROM (Read Onl
(y Memory) 21a, while controlling the operations of the above-described units, that is, the entire original document sorting apparatus, according to a predetermined program stored in the memory 21a.

The DADF control unit 22 includes the image reading control unit 2
The operation of each function of the DADF 1 is controlled while following the instructions from 1.

The illumination controller 23 controls the lamp 1 in the image reading device 2 while following the instructions from the image reading controller 21.
It controls the ON / OFF operation of 2a.

The scanning controller 24 controls each CRG in the image reading device 2 while following the instruction from the image reading controller 21.
A drive signal is sent to a stepping motor 16 serving as a drive source of the driving units 12 and 13, and the stepping motor 16 is driven to move each of the CRGs 12 and 13 in the sub-scanning direction.

The analog correction and shading correction section 25 applies AGC (Auto Gain Control), AOC (Auto Offset Control) to the RGB color component electric signals obtained by the photoelectric conversion element 15. Adjustment), and signal processing such as A / D conversion. By this signal processing, the electrical signals of the RGB color components are converted from analog values to digital multivalued information. Further, thereafter, the analog correction and shading correction unit 25 performs signal processing such as shading correction on the converted multi-valued information.

The image processing section 26 converts the color space of the multi-valued information signal-processed by the analog correction and shading correction section 25. Specifically, the multi-value information represented by the RGB color space is represented by L ^* a ^* b ^*
It is converted into multi-valued information represented by a color space or an L ^* u ^* v ^* color space. Thus, after conversion, for example, in the color space, multi-valued information including lightness and saturation is obtained.

The ACS unit 27 is a signal converted by the image processing unit 26 (hereinafter, the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal will be described).
Is used to identify whether the image drawn on the set document 10 of the image reading device 2 is a color image or a black and white image, that is, whether the document 10 is a color document or a black and white document. This is sent to the reading control unit 21.

In order to perform such color / black / white discrimination, the ACS unit 27, as shown in FIG.
7a, and functions as a block determination unit 27b and a document determination unit 27c. That is, in the ACS unit 27, as will be described in detail later, the pixel determination unit 27a performs color / black and white determination for each pixel constituting the image, and the block determination unit 27b determines each color when the image is divided into a plurality of blocks. The color / monochrome determination is performed for each block, and the document determination unit 2
7c performs color / monochrome determination for the entire image.

The pixel determining section 27a, the block determining section 27b, and the document determining section 27c use the pixel determining threshold, the block determining threshold, and the document determining threshold as references for color / monochrome determination, respectively.
These threshold values are stored in a memory or the like (not shown) in advance, but may be arbitrarily changed by an operation from a user interface (not shown).

In FIG. 5, the transport path switching control unit 28
Is the DAD while following the instruction from the image reading control unit 21.
A transport path switching mechanism 5 such as a clutch provided on a transport path 4 that connects between the F1 and the document storage device 3 is driven to thereby transport the original (the color original 3a or the black-and-white original 3b) transported by the transport path 4. To control the separation and discharge of wastewater.

The document storage device control unit 29 controls the operation of each function of the document storage device 3 while following instructions from the image reading control unit 21.

It is assumed that each of the above-described units 21 to 29 is provided on a control board of the image reading apparatus 2. However, it may be provided separately from the image reading device 2.

Next, a description will be given of an example of a processing operation when the document separating apparatus configured as described above separates a document.

In this document sorting apparatus, when the user presses the start button after the original document 1a is placed on the DADF 1, the image reading control unit 21 recognizes this and conveys the document to the DADF control unit 22. Send a command. Then, the DADF control unit 22 receives the command, and stores the platen glass 11 of the image reading device 2 in the DADF 1.
The document 1a before reading is sequentially conveyed to the top.

When the set document 10 is placed on the platen glass 11 by the conveyance, the image reading control unit 21 subsequently transmits a lamp-on signal to the illumination control unit 23. The illumination control unit 23 receives this signal,
Lights up. Further, the image reading control unit 21 transmits a motor-on signal to the scanning control unit 24. Scan control unit 24
Receives this signal, drives the stepping motor 16 and moves each of the CRGs 12 and 13 to
Is scanned.

By this scanning, the reflected light from the set document 10 enters the photoelectric conversion element 15 and is converted into electrical signals of RGB color components. The electric signals of the respective RGB components are converted into L ^* a ^* b ^* signals by an image processing unit 26 after undergoing signal processing in an analog correction and shading correction unit 25. This L ^* a ^* b ^* signal is sent to the ACS unit 27.

Upon receiving the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal, the ACS unit 27 determines whether the set document 10 is a color document or a monochrome document. Here, the identification of color / black and white by the ACS unit 27 will be described in detail. 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams illustrating an example of an outline of color / black and white identification in the present embodiment.

When the ACS unit 27 receives the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal, first, the pixel determination unit 27a sequentially sets each pixel information in the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal as a pixel of interest and stores it in a memory or the like (not shown). A comparison is made with the stored pixel determination threshold.

The pixel determination threshold is for setting a threshold space in a three-dimensional space area of L ^* , a ^* , b ^* , as shown in FIG. 7, for example. However, at this time, two specific color spaces 31 and a black-and-white space 32 are set as the threshold spaces.

The specific color space 31 corresponds to a color space to which only a specific color belongs. Specific colors belonging to the specific color space 31 include, for example, colors that can be added later by marking, and more specifically, for example, marker pen colors such as fluorescent yellow and fluorescent light blue. The monochrome space 32 is equivalent to a color space representing an achromatic color.

When the pixel determination threshold can be arbitrarily changed by an operation from a user interface (not shown), the range of the specific color space 31 can also be changed by the operation. Therefore, in such a case, the color desired by the user can be set as the specific color. At this time, it is conceivable to input the pixel determination threshold itself from the user interface. For example, each threshold corresponding to a plurality of types of colors is stored in a memory or the like in advance, and one of the thresholds is selected from the stored thresholds. If one or more (colors) are selected, convenience for the user can be improved.

Then, the pixel determination unit 27a determines the
It is determined whether the pixel of interest is a color pixel or a monochrome pixel according to whether the value of the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal belongs to either the specific color space 31 or the monochrome space 32. Specifically, the pixel determination unit 27a determines that the pixel is a monochrome pixel if the value of the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal of the pixel of interest belongs to either the specific color space 31 or the monochrome space 32. If the pixel does not belong to either the specific color space 31 or the monochrome space 32, it is determined that the pixel is a color pixel.

However, the pixel judging section 27a is, for example, as shown in FIG.
, Only the saturation of the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal, ie,
Focusing on the two-dimensional space a ^* and b ^* , two specific color spaces 31 and black-and-white spaces 32 may be set and compared in the two-dimensional space. At this time, the pixel determination unit 27a causes the saturation and lightness (or only the saturation) representing a specific color such as a marker pen to belong to the specific color space 31.

The result of the judgment by the pixel judgment section 27a is sent to the block judgment section 27b as a judgment flag for each pixel. The block determination unit 27b is based on the determination result by the pixel determination unit 27a, and is N pixels × M pixels (N and M are positive integers)
Count the number of color pixels contained in the window of
By comparing this with a preset block determination threshold,
It is determined whether the window block is a color block or a monochrome block. That is, the block determination unit 27b
A window block having more color pixels than the block determination threshold is determined to be a color block. At this time, the window is viewed as a block in which the same pixel is divided so as not to be duplicated.

The judgment result by the block judgment unit 27b is as follows.
The determination flag is sent to the document determination unit 27c for each block. The document determination unit 27c counts the number of color blocks included in the detection area (read area) of the set document 10 based on the determination result by the block determination unit 27b,
This is compared with a preset document determination threshold to determine whether the set document 10 is a color document or a monochrome document. That is, the document determination unit 27c determines that a document having a larger number of color blocks than the document determination threshold is a color document. This determination result is sent to the image reading control unit 21.

As described above, the ACS unit 27 includes the pixel determining unit 27a, the block determining unit 27b, and the document determining unit 27c.
, The color of the original 10 to be read by the image reading apparatus 2 is identified.

When the ACS unit 27 performs color / black / white identification, the identification result is sent to the image reading control unit 21.
Upon receiving the identification result, the image reading control unit 21 outputs a switching signal to the transport path switching control unit 28. In response to the switching signal, the transport path switching control unit 28 drives the transport path switching mechanism 5 such as a clutch, and selects the discharge to the document storage device 3 corresponding to the identification result in the ACS unit 27 so as to select the discharge. Switch. As a result, the originals 3a and 3b for which the image reading and the color / monochrome identification have been completed are conveyed through the conveyance path 4 and are separately discharged to either the color original storage section or the monochrome original storage section in the original storage device 3. Will be.

When both sides of a document are read and the document is sorted based on the determination result of both sides, the ACS
After the identification by the unit 27 is completed, the document is inverted by the DADF 1 and the identification by the ACS unit 27 may be performed on the other side in the same manner. Then, if any one of the identification results for the respective surfaces is determined to be a color document, the transport path switching mechanism 5 may be switched so that the document is transported to the color document storage unit.

As described above, according to the document sorting apparatus of the present embodiment, when the image reading device 2 reads image data from the set document 10, the L ^* a ^* b ^* signals constituting the image data are converted to the specific color. The ACS unit 27 determines whether the document belongs to one of the space 31 and the black-and-white space 32. If the document belongs to either one, the set document 10 is classified as the black-and-white document 3b, and the document storage device 3 It is designed to be stored in. Therefore, even if a color component is present in the image drawn on the set document 10, if the color component is a marking provided by, for example, a colored marker pen, this is erroneously identified as a color image. You won't have to leave.

In other words, if the document is separated using the document separating apparatus of the present embodiment, no matter which area on the document has a colored marking or the like, the marking or the like can be placed on both sides / one side of the document. Regardless of whether they are used, it is possible to accurately and accurately separate color and black-and-white documents, which are the most important when recycling paper resources, and as a result, it is possible to improve the quality of recycled paper etc. Becomes Further, there is no need for a manual operation to realize the high accuracy of the sorting. Therefore, it can be said that the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment is very suitable for use in recycling paper resources.

Moreover, in the document sorting apparatus of the present embodiment,
By simply setting the specific color space 31 in addition to the black-and-white space 32 in advance, it is possible to realize the above-described high-precision sorting, so that it is not necessary to significantly change the general image reading device 2. The document reading apparatus 2 can be used to constitute a document separating apparatus, so that the cost of sorting the documents does not increase significantly.

Further, in the document sorting apparatus of the present embodiment, if the range of the specific color space 31 can be changed from the user interface, it is possible to deal with marking of any color and the like. The color / black and white determination can be made more accurate, and furthermore, it is very convenient for the user.

When the range of the specific color space 31 can be changed from the user interface, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the value of the set range is displayed and output on the user interface. (Refer to the display portion on the left side in the figure). Also, the value of the L ^* a ^* b ^* signal obtained during the sorting operation, in particular, whether the specified color space 31 is satisfied,
When read data in the vicinity is obtained, the read data may be temporarily stored, and then displayed and output so as to be compared with the display output in the above-described set range so that the read data can be compared with the output (see FIG. , See display on the right). At this time, the determination result may be displayed and output. However, the result display when the color space is set may be only the display part on the left side.

[Second Embodiment] Here, a document sorting apparatus according to the fourth, fifth and sixth aspects of the invention will be described. However, in this embodiment, only differences from the above-described first embodiment will be described. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a reading principle of an image reading device used in the document sorting device of the present embodiment. In the drawings, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the present embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, in color / monochrome discrimination, a document on which an image is formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material is classified as a color document. That is, a document on which an image is formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material is a color document, and the other documents are a black and white document.

For this purpose, in the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a Sian filter 16 is arranged between the second CRG 13 and the lens 14 in the image reading apparatus 2 '. The Sian filter 16 is
Since the emission wavelength of the lamp 12 includes a component in the infrared region, and the photoelectric conversion element 15 is also sensitive to infrared light, the infrared light reflected from the original surface causes the photoelectric conversion from a portion having no image as if there is an image. Since the output of each of the RGB colors is output from the element 15, it is provided to cut off the infrared rays. However, the Sian filter 16 moves in accordance with the operation of a drive source (not shown), and is located on the optical path between the second CRG 13 and the lens 14 or retracted to a position that does not block the optical path. It has become. Also, this Sian filter 16
It is assumed that the lamp 12a mounted on the first CRG 12 can also irradiate infrared light in response to the movement of. In addition, separately from the Sian filter 16, a visible light cut filter (not shown) for cutting visible light may be movably provided.

Accordingly, in the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, an example of processing operation for sorting documents is different from that of the first embodiment. Here, a processing operation example in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation performed by the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a magnitude relationship between photoelectric conversion outputs depending on the presence or absence of passage through a Sian filter.

In the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, when the color / black and white sorting mode is selected as the apparatus setting (step 101, the steps are abbreviated as "S"), the start button is pressed. Is pressed, the image reading control unit 21 recognizes this and transmits a document transport command to the DADF control unit 22 as in the case of the first embodiment, and the document 1a before reading set in the DADF 1 is read. Are sequentially transported onto the platen glass 11 of the image reading device 2 ′.

When the set document 10 is placed on the platen glass 11 by the conveyance, the image reading control unit 21 then moves to a position where the Sian filter 16 does not block the optical path between the second CRG 13 and the lens 14. Then, the Sian filter 16 is retracted. At this time, when the thickness of the Sian filter 16 in the optical path direction changes the focus of the optical system, a plate glass or the like having substantially the same size is inserted into the position where the Sian filter 16 is retracted (S10).
2). Then, in response to an instruction from the image reading control unit 21, the illumination control unit 23 turns on the lamp 12a, and the scanning control unit 24 moves each of the CRGs 12, 13. Thus, scanning of the read surface of the set document 10 is started (S103).

When the photoelectric conversion element 15 converts the reflected light from the set document 10 into electric signals of RGB color components by this scanning, the electric signals of the RGB color components are converted by the analog correction and shading correction unit 25 into signal processing. After that, the document image information is temporarily held and stored in a memory (not shown) as document image information (S104).

When the storage in the memory is completed, the image reading control unit 21 moves the Sian filter 16 so that the Sian filter 16 is located on the optical path between the second CRG 13 and the lens 14. (S10
5). Then, the read surface of the set document 10 is scanned again (S106), and the electrical signals of the RGB color components obtained by the scanning are temporarily stored in a memory (not shown) (S107).

When the holding and storing in the memory is completed, in the ACS unit 27, the pixel determining unit 27a determines, for each pixel, the original image information held and stored in the memory for each RGB color component or at least one pixel. Output result of one or more color components (here, for simplicity, limited to the output result of R component, hereinafter referred to as "R channel output")
Are compared (S108), and it is determined whether there is no change in the output between them (S109).

This is because the photoelectric conversion element 15 is also sensitive to infrared rays, and therefore depends on whether or not the reflected light from the original passes through the Sian filter 16 and whether or not the original contains an infrared absorbing material. , As shown in FIG.
This is because the state of the channel output changes. That is, if the toner on which an image is formed contains an infrared absorbing material, there is little change in the output state of the R channel regardless of whether or not the reflected light from the document passes through the Sian filter 16. However, if the toner on which the image is formed does not include the infrared absorbing material, the state of the R channel output greatly changes depending on whether or not the reflected light from the document passes through the Sian filter 16.

Therefore, the pixel determination unit 2 of the ACS unit 27
If the R channel output held and stored in the memory has a change equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that the pixel does not include an infrared absorbing material, that is, a pixel formed of black and white toner. If there is no change equal to or larger than the threshold value in the comparison result, it is determined that the pixel includes the infrared absorbing material, that is, the pixel formed of the color toner.

Based on the determination result, the ACS unit 27 determines whether the original 10 to be read by the image reading apparatus 2 'has passed through the determination by the block determination unit 27b and the original determination unit 27c as shown in FIG. Color / black and white for Then, the identification result is sent to the image reading control unit 21.

As a result of the identification performed by the ACS unit 27, when it is determined that the document 10 is a document formed of a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material (S110), the image reading control unit 21 controls the conveyance path. A switching signal is output to the switching control unit 28, and the original 10 is conveyed to the original storage device 3, and is separately discharged as a color original 3a into the color original storage unit (S
111). On the other hand, when it is determined that the document 10 is a document formed of black and white toner containing no infrared absorbing material (S112), the image reading control unit 21 outputs a switching signal to the transport path switching control unit 28. Then, the document 10 is transported to the document storage device 3 and is separately discharged as a black and white document 3b into the black and white document storage section (S113).

As described above, according to the document sorting apparatus of the present embodiment, when the image reading device 2 'reads image data from the set document 10, the image drawn on the set document 10 based on the image data is formed. ACS unit 2 determines whether or not the toner is formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material
7, if the original is formed of a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material, the set original 10 is classified as the color original 3a and stored in the original storage device 3. . Therefore, set original 1
Even if the image drawn at 0 appears to be formed with black-and-white toner at first glance, if the black-and-white image is actually formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material, this is mistaken. Will not be classified as a black and white image.

That is, if the document is separated using the document separating apparatus of the present embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the most important color document and black-and-white document are recycled when recycling paper resources. Since the classification can be performed accurately and with high accuracy, the quality of recycled paper and the like can be improved as a result. In addition, in order to realize higher accuracy of the separation,
There is no need for manual work or significant changes in the device configuration. Therefore, it can be said that the document sorting apparatus of the present embodiment is also very suitable for use in recycling paper resources.

In the present embodiment, the Sian filter 16 is moved (inserted / extracted), and the R channel output in each case (with / without passage of the Sian filter 16) is compared, so that the color / color of the original 10 is Although the description has been given of the case of performing black-and-white discrimination, if a visible light cut filter is provided separately from the Sian filter 16, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of color / black-and-white discrimination.

Here, a brief description will be given of a processing operation example of color / monochrome discrimination when a visible light cut filter is used. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the processing operation performed by the document sorting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the magnitude relationship of the R color component output depending on whether or not the light passes through the visible light cut filter.

When color / black and white discrimination is performed using a visible light cut filter, as shown in FIG.
In accordance with the selection of the black and white sorting mode (S201), the Sian filter 16 is retracted from the optical path (S2).
02), the visible light cut filter is moved on the optical path (S203). In this state, the scanning of the set document 10 on the platen glass 11 is performed (S204), and it is determined whether or not the R channel output obtained by this scanning exceeds a predetermined threshold (S205).

This is because the photoelectric conversion element 15 is also sensitive to infrared rays, and therefore, whether or not reflected light from a document passes through a visible light cut filter and whether or not the document contains an infrared absorbing material. As a result, as shown in FIG.
This is because the state of the channel output changes. That is, when the toner on which an image is formed contains an infrared absorbing material, the reflected light from the original passes through the visible light cut filter, so that the output of the R channel is reduced. This is because if no material is included, the R channel output does not decrease even if the reflected light from the document passes through the visible light cut filter. At this time, it is assumed that the reflected light from the document has not passed through the ultraviolet cut filter.

Therefore, if the output of the R channel exceeds the threshold value, it is determined that an image formed with black and white toner containing no infrared absorbing material is drawn on the set document 10 (S206). If the R channel output does not exceed the threshold value, it is determined that the image formed with the color toner containing the infrared absorbing material is drawn on the set document 10 (S207). Then, according to the determination result, the set document 10 may be separately discharged as the color document 3a or the monochrome document 3b (S208, S20).
9).

By the way, the color / monochrome discrimination of the document 10 is determined by the output result when the Sian filter 16 is moved (insertion / extraction) or the output result when the visible light cut filter is moved (insertion / extraction). It is also conceivable to calculate the difference between the respective output results and compare this with a preset threshold instead of performing the comparison. Moreover, in this case, the threshold may be arbitrarily variable by an operation from the user interface.

[0078]

As described above, according to the document separating apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to perform high-precision separation of a color document and a black-and-white document, and it is possible to remarkably improve the quality of recycled paper. In particular, a black-and-white document marked with a colored marker pen or the like may be mistakenly determined to be a color document, or a seemingly black-and-white document formed with color toner may be incorrectly determined to be a black-and-white document. Disappears. In addition, since color documents and black-and-white documents can be automatically separated, compared to the case where the separation is performed manually,
Significant reduction of labor (man-hours) can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram (part 1) showing an outline of an example of a document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram (part 2) illustrating an outline of an example of a document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram (part 3) showing an outline of an example of a document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a reading principle of an image reading apparatus used in the first embodiment of the document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the entire document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a main part of the document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram (part 1) illustrating an example of an outline of color / black and white identification in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram (part 2) illustrating an example of an outline of color / black and white identification in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of contents displayed and output on the user interface according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a reading principle of an image reading apparatus used in a second embodiment of the document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation performed by a second embodiment of the document sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a magnitude relationship between photoelectric conversion outputs depending on the presence or absence of passing through a Sian filter.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the processing operation performed by the document sorting apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the magnitude relationship of the photoelectric conversion output depending on the presence or absence of passage through a visible light cut filter.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... DADF, 2, 2 '... Image reading device, 3 ... Document storage device, 4 ... Conveyance path, 5 ... Conveyance path switching mechanism, 21 ... Document reading control part, 27 ... ACS part, 27a ... Pixel determination part, 27
b: block determination unit, 27c: original determination unit, 31: specific color space, 32: black and white space

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03G 21/00 386 G06T 1/00 510 5C062 G06T 1/00 510 H04N 1/04 106Z 5C072 H04N 1/04 106 G03G 21/00 372 5C077 1/60 H04N 1/40 D 5C079 1/48 1/46 A 9A001 F term (reference) 2H027 DB01 DE02 DE07 DE10 EC10 ED13 EE08 FA22 FA28 FA37 GA47 GA49 GB01 GB14 2H076 AA07 BA33 BA36 BA36 BB06 EA01 2H110 AB08 AC03 BA07 BA13 CC13 3F053 EA01 EC02 ED17 LA01 LB02 5B057 AA11 BA11 BA30 CA01 CA02 CB01 CB02 CH01 CH09 DB05 DB06 5C062 AA05 AB02 AB23 AB30 AB32 AB35 AB46 AC05 AC58 AD02 BA02 DA01 BA02 DA01 BA02 DA01 RA10 RA20 UA18 5C077 LL20 MM03 MP08 PP28 PP32 PP36 PQ20 RR11 SS01 5C079 HA13 HB01 HB08 JA13 JA23 KA17 LA03 LA10 NA13 NA29 9A001 HH31 JJ35 KK42

Claims (8)

[Claims] An image reading unit that reads image data from a document on which an image is drawn; and at least one of a specific color space in which a color component signal constituting the image data represents a specific color and a black and white space representing an achromatic color. If it belongs to either one of the above, the image drawn on the document is identified as a black-and-white image, and in other cases, the document is identified as a color image. A document separation device for separating a document whose image data has been read by the image reading device based on the document data. 2. The document sorting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores the range of the specific color space in advance. 3. The document classification according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit for storing the range of the specific color space and a setting unit for setting a range of the specific color space to be stored in the storage unit. apparatus. 4. A display unit for displaying and outputting a setting result by said setting unit, and displaying and outputting a reading result by said image reading unit so as to be visually compared with said setting result. Item 4. The document sorting apparatus according to Item 3. 5. An image reading means for irradiating an infrared ray on a document on which an image is drawn to read image data from the document, and an image drawn on the document is absorbed by an infrared ray based on a result of reading by the image reading means. Document identification means for identifying whether or not the image data is formed by a color toner containing a material; and discrimination of a document whose image data has been read by the image reading means based on a result of identification by the document identification means. And a document separation unit for performing document separation. 6. The document identifying means compares the respective image data reading results when an infrared cut filter is inserted and removed on the optical path of the infrared reflected light from the document, and determines whether the image drawn on the document is an infrared ray. 6. The document separation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein whether or not the original is formed with a color toner containing an absorbing material is identified. 7. The document identification unit compares the respective image data reading results when a visible light cut filter is inserted and removed on the optical path of infrared reflected light from the document, and determines whether an image drawn on the document is 6. The document separation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein whether or not the document is formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material is identified. 8. The document identification unit calculates a difference between respective image data reading results when a filter is inserted and removed on an optical path of infrared reflected light from the document, and compares the difference with a predetermined threshold value. It is for identifying whether or not the image drawn on the original is formed with a color toner containing an infrared absorbing material, and further, setting means for arbitrarily setting the threshold value is provided. 6. The document separation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein: