JP2001339596A - Image reader capable of image composition and image composition system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reader that can composite read image information with character/image information registered in advance such as 'Kept secret from outsiders' after reading an original and transmit the combined information to an information processing unit and to provide an image composition system. SOLUTION: The image reader A to be connected to an image processing unit B via a communication network, composites an original image read from a read section 9 of the image reader A with the character image information registered in advance and transmits the composited information to the information processing unit B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method for synthesizing image information read from an image reading apparatus and character / image information registered in the image reading apparatus or the information processing apparatus and sending the combined information to the information processing apparatus. To an image reading device and an image synthesizing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when an original document to be treated as confidential is to be read from an image reading device and transferred to a personal computer,
Before reading the document, it is necessary to prepare a document on printing paper for confidential use in advance, or to press a confidential stamp after preparing the document.

[0003]

However, in the case of a stamp, there are many press errors and there are few stamp types. For printed confidential paper, the word "confidential"
Since the image is printed with a watermark or halftone, it is often difficult to read clearly from an image reading device having a low resolution. In addition, when confidential paper is used, it is necessary to manage inventory.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to read a document and then read the image information and character / image information such as “registered outside the company” which is registered in advance. To provide an image reading apparatus and an image synthesizing system capable of synthesizing an image and sending the synthesized image to an information processing apparatus.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus comprising: an image reading unit which reads image information read from a reading unit of the image reading unit; Are synthesized and transmitted to the information processing apparatus.

The character / image information is information combining character data and image data. Also, only character data,
Only image data may be used. Specifically, for example, as character data, “confidential”, “Confidentia
l "and" revision ", and the image data includes a company logo mark.

An image synthesizing system according to a second aspect is configured by connecting an image reading device and an information processing device via a communication network, and the information processing device registers character / image information in advance. After transmitting the character / image information to the image reading device, the image reading device combines the document image read from the reading section with the character / image information received from the information processing device, and outputs the information. It is sent to the processing device.

[0008] The information processing apparatus user can register various character formats and special images in advance.

In the image synthesizing system according to the third aspect,
A plurality of character / image information can be registered in the information processing apparatus, and the information is selected and sent to the image reading apparatus.

Since the images are synthesized by freely selecting from a plurality of images, various synthesized images can be generated according to the application.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the system configuration of the image synthesizing system.

A enclosed by a dotted line is a facsimile apparatus having an image reading function, and B is a personal computer constituting an information processing apparatus connected to the facsimile apparatus A via a LAN. As shown in the figure, the image synthesizing system 20 includes a facsimile device A
And one or more personal computers B.

Here, a case is shown in which the image reading apparatus is applied to a facsimile apparatus A connected to a LAN. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is also applicable to an image reading device (scanner) having only a function.

The communication network connecting the facsimile machine A and the personal computer B is not limited to a LAN, but may be another line network.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes C for controlling the following units.
PU 2 is an NCU connected to a telephone line to transmit a dial signal and controls connection to the telephone line, 3 is a modem for modulating and demodulating a signal for performing facsimile communication, and 4 is for temporarily storing image data. An image memory 5 is a RAM for storing variable information such as data received from the personal computer B or the like and print output information, and a ROM 6 is for storing a control program and the like.

A display unit 7 includes a liquid crystal screen and the like, and displays an operation state and an operation method of the facsimile apparatus A.
Reference numeral 8 denotes an operation unit including numeric keys and various operation keys, 9 denotes a reading unit for reading a document, 10 denotes a LAN interface for transmitting and receiving data to and from a personal computer B connected via LAN, and 11 denotes a print output unit for recording image data. It is.

The reading section 9 is composed of a flatbed scanner, an automatic document feeder, and the like.

In the facsimile apparatus A, the image data read by the reading section 9 is sequentially encoded, then temporarily stored in the image memory 4 and transmitted to the personal computer B via the LAN interface 10 while receiving the image data. Then, the received image data is temporarily stored in the image memory 4, read out and decoded sequentially, and recorded by the print output unit 11.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the facsimile apparatus A when reading an image.

Operation when receiving a character / image pattern for image synthesis from personal computer B (101, 102), personal computer B
The operations (103, 104) at the time of a reading request from the user and the operations (105-113) at the time of a reading start operation are basic operations relating to image reading of the facsimile apparatus A.

The character / image pattern is stored in a memory (RAM
5), and are correlated so as to be referred to by the pattern numbers described with reference to FIG.

From PC B to LAN interface 1
When a character / image pattern is received via 0,
This is stored in the memory (RAM5) and stored for image synthesis when reading the original (101, 102).

When a reading request is issued from the personal computer B,
A reading request process such as displaying on the display unit 7 that a request has been made from the personal computer B, receiving reading conditions, and the like is performed (10).
3, 104).

Next, when a reading start operation is performed by the operation unit 8, the original is read from the reading unit 9, the original image is temporarily stored in the image memory 4, and the combining characters stored in the RAM 5 are stored. The image pattern and the original image in the image memory 4 are superimposed and synthesized, and the synthesized image is transmitted to the personal computer B via the LAN interface 10 (1).
05-108).

The composite image is generated by taking the logical OR of the pixels, giving priority to the gradation and color of the character / image pattern.

If the condition received from the personal computer B specifies printing, the combined image is output from the print output unit 11 (109, 110).

The above document reading process is repeated for all pages (106 to 111). If there is an instruction to delete the character / image pattern, the pattern is deleted from the RAM 5 and the document reading is terminated (112, 113). .

In this manner, the personal computer B can easily obtain an image obtained by synthesizing the image information read by the facsimile apparatus A with the character / image pattern stored in the personal computer B.

Here, the character / image patterns used are those registered in the personal computer B, but those registered in the facsimile apparatus A may be used, or the patterns received from the personal computer B may be stored. This may be used.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of character / image pattern registration in the personal computer B.

A plurality of patterns can be registered in the personal computer B, each having a unique pattern number.
It can be identified by the pattern number.

In order to newly register a character / image pattern, the user of the personal computer B inputs a pattern number, and in the case of a character, inputs a character, sets the size and font of the character, and sets the color and floor. Keys, synthesis positions, etc. are specified and registered in the registration area on the memory corresponding to the pattern number (201 to 201).
206).

The character patterns registered here are, for example, “Confidential”, “Confidential”, “Revision”, etc.
As a method of designating the combining position and the like, for example, there is horizontal writing on the right shoulder and diagonal writing on the center.

In the case of an image, an image is created, a color and a combination position are designated, and registered in a registration area on the memory corresponding to the pattern number (207, 208, 206). In addition,
The image may be created by reading from the reading unit 9 of the facsimile apparatus A.

An example of an image is a company logo mark, which may be registered by designating the position such as the center of the bottom of the page.

Also, a stamp stamped with a stamp such as "Confidential" may be read by the reading unit 9 and registered.
Imprints may be registered.

With the above procedure, a plurality of character / image patterns are created, and before reading the original, the personal computer B
And sends the selected pattern to the facsimile machine A.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the flow from transmission of a pattern to reception of a composite image in the personal computer B.

When the user of the personal computer B selects and inputs a pattern number for synthesis, the personal computer B operates the facsimile machine A
Sends an image synthesis request to the server. Next, the selected pattern is taken out of the memory, and this pattern is sent to the facsimile machine A (301 to 303).

The pattern to be transmitted may be composed by inputting a plurality of pattern numbers and combining these patterns. That is, a character and an image may be combined, a plurality of character patterns may be combined, or a plurality of image patterns may be combined.

After the original is set on the reading section 9 of the facsimile apparatus A, the personal computer B sends a reading start instruction,
After the original reading and the image composition are completed in the facsimile apparatus A, the composite image is sent to the personal computer B, and the personal computer B
Receives the composite image (304, 305).

In FIG. 4, the character / image pattern transmission processing for image composition (301 to 303) is executed as a part of a series of processing up to the reception of the composite image. It can also be implemented.

[0044]

As can be understood from the above description, according to the image reading apparatus according to the first aspect or the image synthesizing system according to the second or third aspect, the image information of the read original is registered in advance. Since the character and image information can be combined and sent to the information processing apparatus, there is no need to stamp the original with a stamp or use a special sheet on which "Confidential" is printed.

As a result, it is possible to eliminate waste caused by erroneous stamp pressing, to reduce the cost of purchasing printing paper, to eliminate the need to read watermark characters on printing paper, and to save the trouble of inventory management of printing paper. .

In particular, according to the second aspect, the character / image information such as "Confidential" is transmitted from the information processing apparatus to the image reading apparatus. Various character formats and special images can be registered, and an image obtained by synthesizing the image with a document image can be easily and quickly acquired.

According to the third aspect, a plurality of characters and images can be registered in the information processing apparatus, and can be freely selected from these to be combined with the original image. Various composite images can be obtained. In addition, since a plurality of character / image information can be transmitted in combination, it is possible to combine various character formats and special image information.

According to the second and third aspects, various conditions such as the size, color, font, and combination position of characters can be set. Can be considered so as not to make the characters and the like difficult to see.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of an image composition system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the image reading apparatus in the image synthesizing system of the present invention when reading an image.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of character / image information registration of the information processing apparatus in the image composition system of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow from transmission of character / image information to reception of composite image information in the information processing apparatus in the image composition system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A facsimile apparatus B information processing apparatus 9 reading unit 20 image synthesizing system

Claims (3)

[Claims] An image reading apparatus connectable to an information processing apparatus via a communication network, wherein image information read from a reading unit of the image reading apparatus is combined with pre-registered character / image information. An image reading apparatus capable of synthesizing an image, which is sent to the information processing apparatus. 2. An image synthesizing system comprising an image reading device and an information processing device connected via a communication network, wherein the information processing device can register character / image information in advance. -After sending the image information to the image reading device, the image reading device combines the document image read from the reading unit with the character / image information received from the information processing device and sends it to the information processing device. I did it,
Image composition system. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of character / image information can be registered, and the information processing apparatus can select one of the plurality of character / image information. An image synthesizing system designed to be sent.