JP2002057891A - Picture processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture processor which surely detects the feeding direction of an original by a simple means without depending on the punctuation or arrangement of letters or punched holes, etc., in a copying machine for continuously copying a plurality of originals. SOLUTION: The picture processor has a picture input means 21 and a picture forming means 23, and a means 221 for separating an inputted picture into letter regions and non-letter regions. It comprises a means 241 for recognizing the existence of a header or footer from the presence of an isolated letter region from the original on an upper or lower portion of an input picture and an original direction detecting means 242 for detecting the difference between two original directions by determining whether the headers/footers recognized by the recognizing means 241 locate at the same position or fully inverted positions.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as a copying machine. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus of a copying machine that can detect an upside down original when copying a plurality of originals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method for automatically determining the direction of a document when a plurality of documents are continuously copied by a copying machine, attention is paid to punctuation and arrangement of characters as disclosed in JP-A-8-22815. And Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-122
As described in Japanese Patent No. 468, there is a method of making a determination by focusing on punch holes.

However, in the former case, the processing becomes complicated, and
Pages having only figures and photographs cannot determine the orientation, and the latter cannot determine the orientation without punch holes.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a copying apparatus for continuously copying a plurality of originals. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus which can be surely detected by a simple means without being based on the image processing apparatus.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a method of copying a plurality of originals by using a copier in which the direction of the originals is changed based on the similarity of the header and footer of each original. This is an image processing apparatus for detecting, and further, an image processing apparatus for reversing the printing direction when a document in the opposite direction is detected.

That is, paying attention to the fact that the header and footer attached to the original are located at the same position for each page, and when a plurality of originals are input, the position of the header or footer of the previously input original and the position of the next original are not considered. If they do not match, it is determined that the direction is different.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to an image processing apparatus of a copying apparatus having image reading means,
Area separation means for separating the input image into a character area where characters are present and a non-character area where images other than characters are present;
A header / footer position recognizing means for detecting a header position and / or a footer position is provided.

According to the present invention, in the above-mentioned image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus, the header / footer position recognizing means includes a header / footer.
The header / footer position is recognized by detecting the presence of an independent character area in the footer area.

According to the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus, comprising: a reference header / footer position storing means for storing a header / footer position detected from a reference document as a reference header / footer position; Header / footer position comparing means for comparing the obtained header / footer position with the reference header / footer position to detect the original direction of the read original.

According to the present invention, in the above-described image processing apparatus of the copying apparatus, the reference header / footer position comparing means may include a header / footer position recognized by the header / footer position recognition means.
By determining whether the footer position is at the same position as the reference header / footer position or at a position rotated by 180 degrees, a difference between two original directions, that is, a reference original and an input original, is detected. I did it.

According to the present invention, in the above-described image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus, the document direction detecting means may be arranged so that, when the header / footer position of the input document exists at a position horizontally inverted with respect to the reference header / footer position, -It is determined that the difference between the header and the footer is due to the odd numbered pages, and the two document directions of the reference document and the input document are determined to be the same direction.

According to the present invention, in the above-described image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus, there is provided a display means for displaying information to a user, and the document direction detecting means rotates the direction of the input image with respect to a reference image. When it is determined that a document having a different orientation has been input, a message is displayed to the user.

According to the present invention, in the above-mentioned image processing apparatus of the copying apparatus, an image rotating means for rotating the read image is provided, and the read image is rotated when a difference in document direction is detected.

According to the present invention, in the above-described image processing apparatus of the copying apparatus, there is provided an operating means for setting a change of operation by a user, and a storing means for storing a page position at which the document direction detecting means actually starts operating. The user can designate a page position at which the document direction detecting means actually starts operating.

According to the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: an image input unit; an image forming unit; and an area separating unit for separating an input image into a character area and a non-character area. Since there is a character area that is isolated from the main text at the top and bottom of the image, header / footer position recognition hand recognition that recognizes the presence / absence of the header and footer, and input after the reference input image and the reference input image The two original directions are determined by comparing the input images to be read and determining whether the header / footer position recognized by the header / footer position recognition means is at the same position or at a position rotated by 180 degrees. Document direction detecting means for detecting the difference between

According to the present invention, in the above image processing apparatus, when the character area serving as a header / footer is located at a horizontally inverted position in an input image subsequent to the reference input image with respect to the reference input image, Judge that the difference is the header / footer difference between the even-numbered and odd-numbered pages, judge the two document directions to be the same direction, and set the character area serving as the header / footer at a position that is vertically inverted in the next input image with respect to the previous input image. If there is, a function is provided for determining that a page having a header / footer difference between even and odd pages is a document rotated 180 degrees.

According to the present invention, in the above image processing apparatus, there is provided a display means for displaying information to a user, and the original direction detecting means determines that the direction of the next input image is attached to the previous input image. A function to warn the user that a document in a different direction has been input.

According to the present invention, in the above image processing apparatus, when the document direction detecting means determines that the direction of the next input image is rotating with respect to the previous input image, the direction of the image to be formed is rotated. Equipped with a function to align the orientation of the output image.

According to the present invention, in the above-mentioned image processing apparatus, the image processing apparatus has an operation section for setting a change of an operation of the image processing apparatus, and a page position at which the document direction detecting means actually starts operating is determined by the user. There is a function that can be specified.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
A description will be given using a digital copying machine with an automatic document feeder.

FIG. 2 shows the external structure of a digital copying machine with an automatic document feeder. The digital copying machine 1 includes an operation panel unit 11 and an automatic document feeder 12. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 3, the operation panel unit 11 has a display unit 13 for displaying various information of the copying machine and a warning when there is a difference in the document direction, and an operation unit 14. Operation unit 1
FIG. 4 shows the configuration of FIG. 4 in detail. The operation unit 14 has numeric keys 141 for designating the number of prints, a copy start key (start key) 142, a start page designation key 143, a header range designation key 144, and a footer range designation key 145. ing. Start page specification key 14
By pressing 3 and then entering the number keys 141,
You can specify the search start page of the header or footer. Also,
Header range designation key 144, footer range designation key 145
By inputting the numeric key 141 after pressing, the range for searching the header and the range for searching the footer can be designated.

With reference to FIG. 1, a functional configuration of a digital copying machine having an image processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

The digital copying machine includes an image reading section 21;
An image processing unit 22, an image forming unit 23, a control unit 24,
It has a storage unit 25 and a user interface 26.

The image reading unit 21 is an image reading unit that reads an image of a document using a CCD unit or the like. The image reading unit 21 converts analog data of the read image into digital image data, and sends the digital image data to the image processing unit 22 and the control unit 24. Output.

The image processing section 22 includes a color correction function for performing color correction processing on digital image data, a filter function, a halftone processing function, and a black generation function. Separation function 221 for separating image data into non-character areas, and image rotation function 22 for rotating image data
2 is provided.

The control unit 24 includes a header / footer position detection function 241 for detecting a header position / footer position in the header area / footer area, and a header / footer position detection function 24.
A document direction determining function 242 for determining the direction of the document using the header position / footer position detected by the first device 1; a page counter function 243 for counting the number of read documents;
The image processing apparatus includes a start page setting function 244 for setting execution start page data of image processing according to the present invention.

The storage unit 25 includes an area separation result storage area 251 for storing a character area and a non-character area separation result separated by the area separation function 221 of the image processing unit 22, and an image frame buffer area for storing read image data. 252
And a reference header / footer position storage area 253 for storing a header / footer position of a reference document.

The flow of image processing including detection of the original direction in the copying apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In copying a document, the user sets the document on the automatic document feeder 12 and uses the start page designation key 143 in the correct document direction to input the reference page position where the header / footer exists. To set the header / footer search start position (S
1). This is for skipping a page in a special format such as a cover, and preventing erroneous determination of the header / footer position. When the copy start key 142 is pressed, the page counter function 243 is reset to "1" and the image is read (S2). Next, image pre-processing such as shading correction, density correction, sub-scan magnification change processing, and error diffusion processing is performed on the read image before area separation (S3). The image in the footer range of the image subjected to the image preprocessing is subjected to an area separation process for separating a character area and a non-character area (S4).

The area separation data obtained as a result of the area separation processing is passed to the image processing section 22 together with the image data, and the original direction alignment processing and the image processing after the area separation processing are executed.

In the original direction alignment processing, it is determined whether the current page counter has reached the designated start page by referring to the page counter function 243 and the start page setting function 244 (S5). If not, image processing is performed on the read image without performing the subsequent document direction alignment processing (S19). When the document orientation alignment process start page has been reached, a process of detecting a footer is executed with reference to the footer area set by the setting of the footer range, and it is determined whether or not the footer has been detected (S6).

If no footer is detected, image processing is performed on the read image without performing the subsequent document direction alignment processing (S19). When footer is detected,
It is determined whether the footer has been detected for the first time (S7).

When the footer is detected for the first time, the detected footer position is stored as a reference footer position in the reference header / footer position storage area 253 (S8), and the process proceeds to step S19 without performing the subsequent document direction alignment processing. If the detection of the footer is the second or subsequent time, the footer position of the read document is compared with the reference footer position, and it is determined whether or not both coincide with each other (S9). When they match, the direction of the read document matches the direction of the reference document, and the document direction alignment process ends, and the routine goes to step S19.

If the two do not match in the judgment in step S9, the detected footer position is horizontally inverted (S10), and the footer position of the horizontally inverted image is compared with the reference footer position. It is determined whether or not to perform (S11). When the two match, the position of the footer is different between the odd-numbered page and the even-numbered page, but it is determined that the document orientations match, and the flow shifts to step S19 to perform image processing after area separation on the input image.

If the two do not match in step S11, the header position detected from the read image is set to 180.
A rotation process is performed (S12), and it is determined whether or not the header position rotated by 180 degrees matches the reference footer position (S13). When they match, the display unit 13 displays that the input image is to be rotated by 180 degrees (S
16) After performing a process of rotating the read image by 180 degrees (S15), the process proceeds to step S19.

If the two do not match in step S13, the header position detected from the read image is set to 180.
A vertical reversal process of rotating the image by a degree and further horizontally reversing is performed (S16), and it is determined whether or not the vertically reversed header position matches the reference footer position (S17). When they match, the display unit 13 displays that the input image is to be rotated by 180 degrees (S16), and reads the read image by 180 degrees.
After performing the rotation process (S15), step S1 is performed.
Move to 9.

If it is determined in step S17 that the vertically inverted header position does not match the reference footer position, it is determined that the original direction cannot be determined (S18), and the flow advances to step S19.

When the original direction alignment processing (S5 to S18) is completed, image processing is performed on the image data in which the original direction is aligned (S19), and the image processed image is stored in the image frame buffer 252 (S19). S20).

Next, the image data is transferred to the image forming section 23 to form an image and obtain a printout, and the page counter function 243 is incremented by "1" (S21). Thereafter, the processing from step S2 to step S21 is repeated until the image processing for all pages is completed, and when the printing processing for all pages is completed (S22), all the processing ends.

The above series of processing has been described as processing for detecting the direction of the original based on the position of the footer arranged at the lower end of the original. However, similar processing is executed using the position of the header arranged at the upper end of the original. By doing so, the document direction can be similarly detected.

The principle of footer detection and the method of footer detection performed in step S6 will be described with reference to FIGS.

The width 311 from the lower end of the document, which is the range where the footer is arranged, is determined by the footer range designation key 14 of the operation unit 14.
The user sets in advance with 5 and the number keys 141. The area separation result stored in the area separation result storage area 251 of the storage unit 25 is scanned line by line, and the presence of a character area in the footer area 31 designated by the footer range designation key 145 is searched. In FIG. 6, a shaded portion indicates a character region 34, and a hatched portion indicates a non-character region 35.

In FIG. 6A, since only a non-character area 35 exists in the footer area 31 and no character area exists, it is determined that the footer does not exist.

As shown in FIG. 6B, even if the character area 34 exists in the footer area 31, if a character area exists continuously from outside the footer area, this is regarded as a part of the text. Furthermore, since the footer area 31 has no other character area discontinuous with the character area 34 regarded as a part of the text,
It is determined that the footer does not exist.

FIG. 6C shows that the character area 34 exists over the boundary of the footer area 31, but the page number 34.
2. It is determined that the footer exists because the character area of the chapter heading 343 exists independently of the character area 34, and the footer (page number) 342 and the footer (chapter heading) 343 are stored in the storage unit 25 as the area separation result. It is stored in the area 251.

In FIG. 6D, it is assumed that the character area 34 existing in the footer area 31 is a part of the text as in FIG. 6B. However, other independent character areas 34
1, footer (page number) 342, footer (chapter heading) 3
Since 43 exists in the footer area 31, the character area 341
But footer (page number) 342, footer (chapter heading) 3
43 are both stored as footers in the area separation result storage area 251. However, since the character area 341 is a part of the text, it causes a mismatch when the newly input page and the footer are identified, thereby lowering the accuracy of the document direction determination. In such a case, the user reduces the width 311 of the footer area using the footer range designation key 145 and the numeric key 141 of the operation unit 14 so that only the footer (page number) 342 and the footer (chapter heading) 343 are provided. Adjust to be included.

The footer detection process in step S6 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, it is determined whether or not the character area 34 exists in the footer area 31 (S31). When the character area 34 is not detected in the footer area 31 as shown in FIG. 6A, it is determined that there is no footer (S32), and the footer detection processing ends. When the character area 34 exists in the footer area 31, it is determined whether or not the character area exists independently (S32). As shown in FIG. 6C, when the character area 34 exists independently, it is determined that there is a footer (S36), and the process ends. As shown in FIG. 6B, when the character area 34 continuously exists from outside the footer area, the next character area in the footer area 31 is searched (S33), and the next character area exists. It is determined whether or not to perform (S34). If the next character area exists, the process returns to step S32 to determine whether the character area exists independently (S32). If the character area 34 exists independently, it is determined that the footer is present. Judge (S36),
The process ends.

If the next character area cannot be detected in step S34, it is determined that there is no footer (S35).
The footer detection process ends.

The principle of the original direction alignment processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8A shows a character area (page number) 342 independent of the footer area 31 for the first time, and a character area (chapter heading).
A document which has been detected as a footer at 343 and serves as a reference document. This footer position is stored in the reference header / footer position storage area 253 as a reference footer position.

FIGS. 8B to 8E show an input document currently being processed. The original shown in FIG.
The positions of the footer (page number) 342 and footer (chapter heading) 343 detected in step 1 match the reference footer position,
In step S9 in FIG. 5, it is determined that the two originals have the same orientation.

FIG. 8C shows an input document currently being processed. It is assumed that the footer of this document is mirror-symmetric with respect to the reference document. In this case, the footer (page number) 342 detected in the footer area 31 and the footer (chapter heading)
343, since the footer position is different from the reference footer position,
In step S9, it is determined that the footers of the two documents do not match. Then, in step S10, the area separation result of the input document is horizontally inverted and compared with the reference document (A) (S11). Since the results match, it is determined that the footers of the two documents are arranged mirror-symmetrically on odd and even pages. It is determined that the two originals have the same orientation.

FIG. 8D shows the input document currently being processed. The originals are arranged in the opposite direction, and a footer (page number) is set in the header area 32 of the read image.
The document is rotated 180 degrees with respect to the reference document, in which the reference document 342 and the footer (chapter heading) 343 are located. In this case, it is determined that the character area 341 detected in the footer area 31 does not match the reference footer position even if the character area 341 is inverted as it is or horizontally. Therefore, the header 322 and the header 323 are detected by searching the header area 32. The header is rotated 180 degrees (S12) and compared with the reference document (S13). Since both match, it is determined that the two documents are in opposite directions.

FIG. 8E shows the input document currently being processed. The footer of this document is a mirror image symmetrical with respect to the reference document similarly to FIG.
(D) Similarly, it is assumed that the image is vertically inverted by rotating by 180 degrees. In this case, it is determined that the character area 341 detected in the footer area 31 does not match the reference footer position even if the character area 341 is inverted as it is or horizontally. Therefore, the header area 32
Is searched, the header 322 and the header 323 are detected. Rotate this header 180 degrees (S1
2) When compared with the reference document (S13), since they do not match, the header 322 further rotated by 180 degrees,
The header 323 is horizontally inverted, that is, vertically inverted (S
16) When compared with the reference document (S17), since they match, it is determined that the footers of the two documents are arranged mirror-symmetrically on odd and even pages, and the two documents are determined to be in opposite directions.

By performing the above operation on all the input documents, it is possible to correct a document having a different orientation in a correct direction and to perform printing.

[0056]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to form an image processing apparatus capable of extracting documents of different orientations from a plurality of documents having the same pattern of header and footer.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to form an image processing apparatus capable of extracting a document in a different direction even from a document having a pattern in which the header and footer are arranged mirror-symmetrically by even and odd pages.

Further, according to the present invention, when a document in a different direction is extracted, it is possible to notify the user of the fact and prompt the user to set the document again.

According to the present invention, when a document having a different orientation is extracted, it is possible to correct the orientation and print when forming an image.

According to the present invention, in the case where a document in a special format such as a cover is included, the accuracy of detecting the header / footer can be improved by skipping the document.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a copying machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an arrangement of an operation panel unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an arrangement of an operation unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the entire image processing of the copying machine according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a sample pattern of a document to be detected as a footer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a footer detection process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the orientation of an input document and a sample pattern of a header / footer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 digital copying machine 11 operation panel unit 12 automatic document feeder 13 display unit 14 operation unit 21 image reading unit 22 image processing unit 23 image forming unit 24 control unit 25 storage unit 26 user interface 31 footer area 32 header area 34 character area 35 Non-character area 141 Numeric keys 142 Copy start key 143 Start page specification key 144 Header range specification key 145 Footer range specification key 221 Area separation function 222 Image rotation function 241 Header / footer position detection function 242 Document direction determination function 243 Page counter function 244 Start page setting function 251 Area separation result storage area 252 Image frame buffer area 253 Reference header / footer storage area 311 Footer area width 322, 323 header 341 Character area 342 Header (page number) 43 header (chapter headings)

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B047 AA01 AB04 BB02 BC14 BC23 CA11 CB15 CB23 DC09 5B057 AA11 BA02 BA24 CA01 CA08 CA12 CA16 CB01 CB08 CB12 CB16 CC01 CD04 CE09 CH20 DA16 DB02 DB09 DC08 5C072 AA01 MP022005 PP55 PP58 PP59 PP71 PQ20 PQ22 SS01 SS05 SS06 TT06 5L096 AA02 AA06 BA07 CA14 DA03 FA44 FA69 HA08 JA03

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus having image reading means, wherein: an area separating means for separating an input image into a character area and a non-character area; and a header / footer for detecting a header position and / or a footer position. An image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus, comprising: a position recognition unit. 2. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said header / footer position recognizing means is means for detecting the presence of an independent character area in the header / footer area. . 3. A reference header / footer position storing means for storing a header / footer position detected from a reference document as a reference header / footer position, a header / footer position detected from a read document, and the reference header / footer position. 3. An image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a header / footer position comparing means for comparing the position with the position. 4. The reference header / footer position comparing means, wherein the header / footer position recognized by the header / footer position recognizing means is the same as the reference header / footer position, or a position rotated by 180 degrees. 4. An image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said document direction detecting means detects a difference between two document directions, that is, a reference document and an input document, by judging whether the document is present in the document. apparatus. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said document direction detecting means detects a difference between a header and a footer between even-numbered and odd-numbered pages when a header / footer position of the input document is horizontally inverted with respect to said reference header / footer position. 5. The image processing apparatus for a copying apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the determination is made, and two document directions of the reference document and the input document are determined to be the same direction. 6. A display device for displaying information to a user, wherein when the document direction detecting means determines that the direction of an input image is rotated with respect to a reference image, a document having a different direction is detected. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the user is warned of the input. 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising image rotation means for rotating the read image, wherein the read image is rotated when a difference in document direction is detected. 8. An operation means for setting a change of operation by a user, and a storage means for storing a page position at which the document direction detecting means is actually started to operate, and the document direction detecting means is actually started to operate. 5. The image processing apparatus of a copying machine according to claim 4, wherein a user can specify a page position. 9. An image processing apparatus having an image input unit and an image forming unit and including an area separating unit for separating an input image into a character area and a non-character area.
The presence of a character area isolated from the main body at the bottom enables recognition of the presence / absence of a header and footer, and the header / recognition recognized by the recognition means in the input image and the next input image. The footer is in the same position,
Alternatively, the image processing apparatus further comprises a document direction detecting means for detecting a difference between the two document directions by determining whether the document is rotated by 180 degrees. 10. If the character area serving as a header / footer exists at a horizontally inverted position in the next input image with respect to the previous input image, it is determined that the difference is a header / footer difference between even and odd pages. When the document direction is determined to be the same direction, and the character area serving as a header / footer exists at a vertically inverted position in the next input image with respect to the previous input image, a page having a header / footer difference due to even / odd pages The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising a function of determining that the document is a document rotated by 180 degrees. 11. A document having a display device for displaying information to a user, wherein when the document direction detecting means determines that the direction of the next input image is rotated with respect to the previous input image, the document having a different direction is rotated. The image processing apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a function of alerting a user that the input has been made. 12. A function for rotating the direction of an image to be formed and aligning the direction of an output image when the document direction detecting means determines that the direction of the next input image is rotated with respect to the previous input image. The image processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: 13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an operation unit configured to allow a user to change an operation of the image processing apparatus, and having a function of allowing a user to specify a page position at which the document direction detection unit actually starts operating. Item 13. The image processing device according to Item 12.