JP2002199194A - Image data encoding/decoding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store codes of more documents by switching hard disks in an imaging device which encodes picture data obtained by simultaneous read of both the front face and the rear face of a document and stores codes of respective faces in two hard disks and performs electronic sorting. SOLUTION: Image data of both the front face and the rear face of the document are inputted and is encoded simultaneously, and codes of both faces are stored in hard disks 1 and 2 (omitted in Figure) via hard disk I/F parts 1 (505) and 2 (510), and a code data switching part 504 is provided between encoding/decoding parts 1 (503) and 2 (509) for decoding of stored codes and hard disk I/F parts 1 (505) and 2 (510), and setting A or B is selected as its switching state, so that codes of both faces can be stored in one disk, if the empty capacity of the other disk is too small to store a new page.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of storing original image information in an internal storage device in the reading order, and after reading all the originals, outputting the image data stored therein in the reading order, and repeating the output operation for a desired number of copies. Accordingly, the present invention relates to an image data encoding / decoding apparatus suitable for use in an image forming system such as a digital copying machine that realizes an electronic sorting function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine having an electronic sort function reads a plurality of originals, stores the image data in the copying machine, and outputs the image data stored therein in reading order. Is repeated a desired number of times, so that the copy output is sorted. As described above, there are advantages in that the document is read only once and a mechanical part for sorting is not required, as compared with a conventional copying machine that mechanically sorts. Generally, a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk is used as an image storage device, and since the amount of image data handled by the copying machine is large, an encoding / decoding unit is provided before the input / output of the hard disk, and There are many configurations in which the amount of information is reduced and stored.

Some document reading apparatuses used in copiers can read both sides of a document. Among them, a document reading apparatus capable of simultaneous reading on both sides of a document has a higher reading speed than that of a mechanism that reads a document one side at a time. The document is fast and the document is not turned over, so there is little damage to the document.

FIG. 13 shows a mechanism diagram of a conventional document reading apparatus for simultaneous reading on both sides. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a document on which image data is recorded on both front and back sides, which is inserted and conveyed along a predetermined path by a conveying roller, and images on both sides are simultaneously read by image reading units arranged on both front and back sides. The image reading unit includes original thick plates 2a, 2b, light sources 3a, 3b, lenses 4a, 4b, reading sensors 5a,
5b.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a digital copying machine capable of performing both-side simultaneous reading and electronic sorting.
When reading image data, the reading sensors 201 and
04, the image data is read, and the A / D converters 202, 2
In step 05, the digital signals are converted into digital signals,
In step 6, image processing such as gamma conversion, image quality correction, and scaling is performed. For simultaneous reading on both sides, there are two systems of each of the above processing blocks on the front side and the back side as shown in the figure. These digital image data are stored in the image storage unit 207 for each page, and after storing all pages of the document, the image data is read out to the image output unit 208 composed of a printer or the like in the order of front and back, and both sides are printed on paper. Is printed. By repeatedly outputting all pages of the double-sided image stored in the image storage unit by the number of copies specified from the operation unit 210 via the main control unit 211, a sorted output image of a predetermined number of copies can be obtained. .

The image storage unit 207 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. In the image storage unit, the image data of the front surface is transferred from the image processing unit (table) to the memory control unit 1 (30).
1), the memory controller 1 (301) generates an address for the memory 1 (302) and stores the image data in the memory 1 (302). After an image for one page is accumulated in the memory 1 (302), the memory control unit 1 (3
01) reads image data from the memory 1 (302) and outputs it to the encoding / decoding unit 1 (303). The encoding / decoding unit 1 (303) performs encoding using the statistical properties of the image to generate a code, and the generated code is transmitted to the hard disk 1 (3) via the hard disk I / F unit 1 (304).
05).

When decoding and outputting the codes stored in the hard disk 1 (305), the hard disk 1 (3
05) the code from the hard disk I / F unit 1 (304)
To the encoding / decoding unit 1 (303). The encoding / decoding unit 1 (303) decodes the code and performs the memory control unit 1
Output to (301). The memory control unit 1 (301) generates an address and expands the decoded image data in the memory 1 (302). After one page is expanded, the memory control unit 1 (301) sets the memory 1 (302). , And outputs the image data to the output signal switching unit 311.
The output signal switching unit 311 performs signal path switching, and outputs image data from the memory control unit 1 (301) to the image output unit. The back side has the same processing blocks as the front side. Finally, the output signal switching unit 311 switches the signal path, and outputs image data to the image output unit.

[0008]

In such a configuration in which the front and back surfaces are stored in separate hard disks, if the code amount on the back surface is always larger than the code amount on the front surface depending on the type of the document, as shown in FIG. Thus, there is a large difference in the free space between the hard disk 1 and the hard disk 2 as in the case where the codes of N originals are stored in the hard disk 1. In such a case, if the free space of the hard disk 2 is exhausted and the codes on the back surface cannot be stored, no matter how much free space the hard disk 1 has, the codes of the original cannot be newly stored, and the free space on the hard disk 1 side cannot be stored. There is a problem that the area is wasted. Many conventional techniques relating to electronic sorting have been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 05-103171, but there has been no solution to the problem of storing two-sided images using two hard disks.

An object of the present invention is to read both sides of a document at the same time, code each side, and store these codes in two assigned storage media. In a device that performs electronic sorting, if the free space of one storage medium is equal to or less than the capacity that can store a new page, switching is performed so that double-sided codes are stored in another storage medium, and the storage destination is changed. An object of the present invention is to allow a larger number of pieces of code data to be stored in a storage medium as compared with a fixed time.

An object of the present invention is to read both sides of a document at the same time, encode each side, and store these codes in two assigned storage media. In an apparatus that performs electronic sorting, by alternately switching the storage medium of the storage destination for each of odd-numbered pages and even-numbered pages, a larger number of code data can be stored in the storage medium than when the storage destination is fixed. It is to be.

An object of the invention described in claims 1 and 4 is to simultaneously read the front and back surfaces of an original, perform encoding on each surface, and store these codes in two assigned storage media. In a device that performs electronic sorting, the storage medium of the storage destination is switched for each page of the read document so that the code of the surface with a large code amount is stored in the storage unit having a large free space, so that the storage destination is compared with when the storage destination is fixed. An object of the present invention is to enable a larger number of code data to be stored in a storage medium.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, an image data encoding / decoding apparatus according to the present invention comprises: an image input means for simultaneously inputting image data of two sides, ie, a front side and a back side of a document; Two encoding units for encoding two-sided image data, and accumulating codes corresponding to the front and back surfaces of the document generated by the two encoding units.
Code storage means, two decoding means for decoding codes corresponding to the front and back surfaces of the document stored in the two code storage means, two code storage means and two coding means And two decoding means, and by switching these connections, a combination of two code accumulation means and two encoding means, and two code accumulation means and two decoding means Code data switching means for switching the combination with the means, and code information on the front and back sides which are referred to during decoding and which are changed by the setting of the code data switching means so that the codes on the front and back sides are correctly assigned to the two decoding means. Code storage destination storage means for storing the storage destination.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, in order to solve the problem of the related art, the assignment of the hard disk for storing the codes of the image data on the front surface and the back surface is changed in the image storage unit. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an image storage unit which is a feature of the present embodiment.
This will be described with reference to FIG. In this configuration example, in addition to the configuration of the image storage unit (image storage unit) of FIG. 15 of the related art, a code data switching unit 504 is provided at a stage preceding the hard disk I / F units 1 (505) and 2 (510). It is configured as shown in FIG.

The functions other than the code data switching unit 504 are the same as those of the configuration described in the prior art of FIG. Reference numerals 301 to 311 in FIG. 15 correspond to 501 to 503 and 505 to 512 in FIG.

The connection of signals can be switched by the code data switching section 504 as shown in FIG. That is, in the setting A, the sign of the surface image is the hard disk I
/ F unit 1 (505) via the hard disk 1 (50
6), the symbol of the back image is the hard disk I / F unit 2
(510), input / output to / from the hard disk 2 (511). In the setting B, the sign of the front image is input / output to / from the hard disk 2 (511) and the sign of the back image is input / output to the hard disk 1 (506).

Next, a first embodiment of a setting operation in which the main control unit (main control unit 211 in FIG. 14) stores the code data of the double-sided image of one document in the image storage unit using the flowchart of FIG. Will be described. First, image data read simultaneously on both sides is stored as a front image in the memory 1 (502) and as a back image in the memory 2 (508) (step S).
1, the following steps are omitted)). Next, the hard disk 1 (50
It is checked whether the code data of these images can be stored in 6) and 2 (511) (S2).

Since the code data has a code amount equal to or less than the original image data, if one hard disk has a free area for one page of the original image data, the code data can be newly stored. Therefore, if the free space of the hard disk 1 (506) and the free area of the hard disk 2 (511) ≧ one page of the original image, both sides can be stored in both the hard disks 1 and 2 without change. 2 as setting A (S3), memories 1 (502), 2
Data obtained by encoding the image in (508) is simultaneously stored in the hard disks 1 (506) and 2 (511) (S
4).

If there is no free space for one page in the hard disk 1 (506), the code switching unit 504 is set to the setting B in FIG. 2 (S5), and the memory 1 (502) first.
Are stored in the hard disk 2 (511) (S6), and then set to A (S7).
The image in (508) is encoded and the hard disk 2 (5
11) (S8). Even when the free space of the hard disk 1 (506) is exhausted in this way, by storing the code data on the front surface in the hard disk 2 (511), the data can be continuously stored on both surfaces.

When the free space of the hard disk 2 (511) is exhausted first, the setting of the code switching unit 504 is set to the setting A of FIG. 2 (S9), and the memory 1 (50) is first set.
2) Encoding the image in the hard disk 1 (506)
(S10), then set to B (S11), and encode the image in the memory 2 (508) and store it on the hard disk 1 (506) (S12). The data is stored in the hard disk 1 (506).

The storage information is recorded in a storage destination management table as shown in FIG. At the time of decoding, by referring to this table and switching the code data switching unit 504, the front side of the encoding / decoding unit 1
(503) Each code data is read out so that the back side can be decoded by the encoding / decoding unit 2 (509).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in a digital copying machine that performs simultaneous reading on both sides and allocates and stores each side to two hard disks, if there is no free space on one hard disk, the codes on both sides are used. By accumulating the data on the hard disk having one free space, it is possible to continuously store data on both sides without wasting the free space on one hard disk.

Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment of the setting operation for storing data in the image storage unit. In the first embodiment, when the free space of one hard disk is exhausted, the code data of both sides is put into the hard disk having the free space to prevent the free space of one hard disk from being wasted. However, in this case, since it is necessary to store the codes of the front and back sides in one hard disk in order, it takes about twice as long as storing the front and back sides in separate hard disks.

In a double-sided original, for example, in a fixed-format original bundle, the code amount of the front surface and the back surface tends to be uneven.
For example, in a contract as shown in FIG. 5, a simple document and a contractor's signature are written on the front side, and the contract details are written in many characters on the back side. Become. When N double-sided images of such a format are stored in the hard disk of the image storage unit of FIG. 1, the hard disk for storing codes on the front and back sides is fixed, and the code amount of the front side <the code amount of the back side. 6, the free space of the hard disk 2 is reduced by a large difference as compared with the hard disk 1 as shown in FIG.
Despite a large amount of free space remaining, image storage on both sides becomes impossible. This embodiment solves the above-mentioned problem.

In the present embodiment, the above problem is solved by controlling the image storage section of FIG. 1 as follows. Next, a setting operation in which the main control unit according to the present embodiment stores the code data of the double-sided image of one document in the image storage unit will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, image data read simultaneously on both sides is stored as a front image in the memory 1 (502) and as a back image in the memory 2 (508) (S21). When the number of read originals is odd (S22 / YES), the setting of the code data switching unit 504 is set to the setting A of FIG. 2 (S23).
The code data from the memory 1 (502) is stored in the hard disk 1 (506), and the code data from the memory 2 (508) is stored in the hard disk 2 (511) (S24).

When the number of read originals is the number of corners, (S
22 / NO), the setting of the code data switching unit 504 is set as setting B in FIG. 2 (S25), and the code data from the memory 1 (502) is stored in the hard disk 2 (511) and the memory 2
The encoded data from (508) is transferred to the hard disk 1 (50
6) (S24).

By inputting the double-sided codes for each original into the alternate hard disk in this manner, it is possible to prevent the free space from being reduced due to one hard disk as shown in FIG. 8 and to reduce the speed. Instead, more double-sided document codes can be stored.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.
According to the first and second embodiments, the capacities of the two hard disks can be used equally with a relatively good probability. However, in the present embodiment, by adding hardware to the configuration of FIG. Further, the capacity of the hard disk can be evenly used without waste.

FIG. 9 shows a configuration according to the present embodiment. FIG.
, The code amount counting units 1 (513) and 2 (514)
Has been added. The other portions are denoted by the same reference numerals as those corresponding to FIG. 1, and redundant description will be omitted. FIG.
Is almost the same as that of FIG.

The added code amount counting units 1 (513), 2
(514) is the memory control unit 1 (501), 2 (50
7) Encode the image data stored in the memories 1 (502) and 2 (508), count the code amount, and hold the result. The code generated here is discarded after the code amount is counted. By referring to the value of the code amount, the main control unit switches the setting of the code data switching unit 504, and sorts the code data input to each hard disk.

A setting operation in which the main control unit in this embodiment stores the code data of the double-sided image of one document in the image storage unit using the flowchart of FIG. First, the image data read simultaneously on both sides is stored as a front image in the memory 1 (502) and as a back image in the memory 2 (508) (S31). At the same time, the code amount counting units 1 (513) and 2 (5
In 14), the code amount is counted, and a flag FFL indicating that the code amount of the front surface is large when the front code amount is larger than the back code amount.
AG = 1, otherwise FFLAG = 0 (S32 to S34).

The free space of the hard disk is compared, and the free space of the hard disk is
06)> HFL indicating that the free space of hard disk 1 (506) is large when hard disk 2 (511)
AG = 1, otherwise HFLAG = 0 (S35 to S37). The result of these flags is FF
LAG = 1 and HFLAG = 1 (the code amount on the front side is large and the free space of the hard disk 1 (506) is large), or FFLAG = 0 and HFLAG = 0 (the code amount on the back side is large and the hard disk 2 (511)) If the free space is large), the code data switching unit 50
The setting of No. 4 is changed to the setting A of FIG.
(S38 to S40). After this setting, the codes of the image data from the memories 1 (502) and 2 (508) are stored in the connected hard disk (S41).

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the codes of the images on both sides of the originals 1 and 2 are stored on the hard disk.
When the free space on hard disk 1 is large (HFLAG
= 1) When storing the third double-sided image, if the code amount on the front side is larger than the code amount on the back side, the code switching unit sets to A, the sign on the front side is hard disk 1, and the sign on the back side is hard disk 2 The area is occupied in the hard disk as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the codes of the surface having the larger code amount are sequentially accumulated for each page in the direction of the free space of the hard disk, so that the free space is biased toward one of the hard disks 1 and 2. Can be prevented, and more double-sided original codes can be accumulated without reducing the speed.

[0035]

According to the first and second aspects of the present invention,
In an apparatus that reads both sides of a manuscript simultaneously, encodes each side, and stores these codes in two assigned storage media for electronic sorting, the free space of one storage medium Is smaller than the capacity for storing a new page, by switching to store the double-sided code in another storage medium, more code data can be stored in the storage medium than when the storage destination is fixed. Can be accumulated.

According to the first and third aspects of the present invention, both the front and back sides of a document are read simultaneously, coding is performed on each side, and these codes are stored in two assigned storage media. In the device that performs the electronic sorting, by alternately switching the storage medium of the storage destination for each of the odd-numbered page and the even-numbered page, a larger number of code data can be stored in the storage medium than when the storage destination is fixed. As compared with the second aspect of the invention, the total number of stored images may be smaller, but the speed of code storage is not reduced.

According to the first and fourth aspects of the present invention, the front and back sides of a document are read simultaneously, encoding is performed on each side, and these codes are stored in two assigned storage media. In a device that performs electronic sorting, the storage medium of the storage destination is switched for each page of the read document so that the code of the surface with a large amount of code is stored in the storage unit having a large free space. More code data can be stored in the storage medium. Compared with the third aspect of the present invention, although the amount of hardware is increased, there is a high possibility that the total number of stored images can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image storage unit in an encoding / decoding device according to first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating settings of a code data switching unit according to first to third embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a storage destination management table.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating a front surface and a back surface when a document is a contract.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a state of a free area of each disk when storage destinations of two hard disks for storing codes are fixed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a state of a free area of two hard disks according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image storage unit in an encoding / decoding device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a state of a free area of two hard disks according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram showing a state of free areas of two hard disks according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional document reading apparatus for simultaneous reading of both front and back sides to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a conventional digital copying machine that performs electronic sorting to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the image storage unit of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a code arrangement configuration of a hard disk in which codes are stored in the related art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 501 Memory control unit 1 502 Memory 1 503 Encoding / decoding unit 1 504 Code data switching unit 505 Hard disk I / F unit 1 506 Hard disk 1 507 Memory control unit 2 508 Memory 2 509 Encoding / decoding unit 2 510 Hard disk I / F unit 2 511 Hard disk 2 512 Output signal switching unit 513 Code amount counting unit 1 514 Code amount counting unit 2 211 Main control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image input means for simultaneously inputting image data of two surfaces of a front side and a back side of a document, two encoding units for encoding the two-sided image data, and the two codes Of the manuscript generated by the
Two code storage means for storing codes corresponding to the back side; two decoding means for decoding codes corresponding to the front and back sides of the document stored in the two code storage means; Code storage means and the two coding means and 2
Between the two code accumulating units and the two encoding units, and the combination of the two code accumulating units and the two encoding units. Code data switching means for switching the combination with the decoding means of the above, which is referred to at the time of decoding, and the two decoding means correctly
Image data encoding / decoding comprising: a code storage destination storage means for storing a storage destination of code information of a front surface and a back surface which is changed by setting of the code data switching means so that a code of the back surface is assigned. apparatus. 2. When the free space of one of the two code storage units becomes equal to or less than a set value after storing the page, the codes of the two code storage units are replaced with the codes of the two code storage units. 2. The image data encoding / decoding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for controlling said code data switching means so as to accumulate data in a direction in which free space is not less than a set value. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the code data switching means is switched every time an odd-numbered page or an even-numbered page is input, thereby alternately switching the combination of the codes on the front and back sides and the two code storage means of the storage destination. The image data encoding / decoding device according to claim 1. 4. A code amount calculating means for calculating a code amount before code accumulation on the front and back sides, and a free space storing means for storing free space of the two code storing means, wherein the code amount calculating means is provided. And information on the free space storage means,
2. The image data encoding / decoding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said code data switching means is controlled by said control means so that codes of a surface having a large code amount are stored in a code storage means having a larger free space. .