JP2002325174A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor that unifies sizes of images transferred to an external device even when sizes of originals differ from each other so as to simplify handling at the external terminal. SOLUTION: A main control section 1 of a digital composite machine 20 uses an image magnification and reduction processing circuit 14 to apply magnification or reduction to image data from an image read means 2 being an image input means or image data from a facsimile modem 10 being other image input means to have a prescribed size designated by an operation section 5, stores the resulting data into a memory box in a memory box area 8a and transmits the image data stored in the memory box to a client PC30 in response to a transfer request signal from the client PC30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to image processing for reading an original image, converting the image into image data, and performing predetermined processing, such as an image scanner (hereinafter referred to as a scanner) or an image reading section of a digital multifunction peripheral. Related to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital multifunction peripheral, which is a facsimile machine with a copy, printer, and scanner function, and a plurality of client devices such as personal computers are connected to a local area network (hereinafter referred to as LAN).
A LAN system that is connected via the Internet has been put to practical use. In this prior art LAN system, a scanner in a digital multifunction peripheral reads a document image and converts it into image data, stores it in a memory box in an image memory corresponding to each client device, and transmits a transfer request from each client device. The image data is read from the memory box in the image memory in response to the signal, and transferred to the corresponding client device via the LAN.

[0003]

In a conventional LAN system, when a document of a plurality of pages is read by an image reading section of a digital multifunction peripheral, if the size of each page of the document is different, the size remains unchanged. It is stored in the image memory. However, when this is transferred to an external client device or the like and a predetermined image processing is executed in the client device, if the size of each page is different, the process becomes complicated when handling with image processing software, and Accordingly, the operation of the user becomes complicated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and assume that the size of an image transferred to an external terminal device is unified even if the size of the original document is different. To provide an image processing apparatus that can simplify the image processing.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising: an input unit for inputting image data; and a scaling unit for scaling an image of the input image data to a predetermined size. Storage means for storing the scaled image data, and control means for transmitting the image data stored in the storage means to the external terminal device in response to a transfer request signal from an external terminal device. It is characterized by having.

[0006] In the above image processing apparatus, the predetermined size is designated by the external terminal device.
Instead, the image processing apparatus is characterized by further comprising an operation means for inputting a predetermined size.

[0007]

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

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a LAN system having a digital multifunction device 20 which is a facsimile device having a copy, printer and scanner function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A LAN system according to this embodiment includes a plurality of N client personal computers (hereinafter, referred to as client personal computers).
Client PC. ) 30-1 to 30-N (hereinafter collectively referred to as 30), a digital multifunction peripheral 20 connected to a public telephone network 80 via a public telephone line L, and a router connected to the Internet 90 Device 6
0 is an image processing system configured by being connected via a LAN 70. By connecting from each client PC 30 to the Internet 90 via a router device 60 or a mail server device (not shown), it is possible to browse a homepage and send and receive e-mails. Composite device 2
By accessing 0, the functions of the copy, printer, scanner, and facsimile of the apparatus 20 can be commonly used.

Digital composite device 2 according to this embodiment
0, a memory box in a memory box area 8a of the image memory 8 is provided, and the main control unit 1 receives image data from the image reading unit 2 as an image input unit or a fax modem 10 as another image input unit. Image data
Using the image enlargement and reduction processing circuit 14, the image is enlarged or reduced (hereinafter referred to as "magnification / reduction") so as to have a predetermined size designated by the operation unit 5, and then stored in a memory box in the memory box area 8a. The image data stored in the memory box is transmitted to the client PC 30 in response to a transfer request signal from the client PC 30.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the client PC 30 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, the client PC 30
An external terminal device, which is a known personal computer, executes processes such as generation, recording, and storage of image data and character data. In the present embodiment, for example, the client PC 30 is used as an external terminal device or an external device that receives image data scanned by a scanner. The main control unit 101 is specifically configured by a CPU, is connected to the following hardware units via a bus 113, controls them, and executes various software functions to be described later. In the client PC 30, an image reading unit and an image recording unit (not shown) are optionally provided. The display unit 104
A display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display, which displays the operation state of the client PC 30 and displays image data of a document to be transmitted and received image data. The operation unit 105 is, for example, a keyboard for inputting character data and instruction commands.

The ROM 106 stores the client PC 3
0 are stored in advance, which are various software programs necessary for the start-up operation and executed by the main control unit 101. The RAM 107 includes an SRAM, a DRAM, an SD
It is composed of a RAM or the like, and is used as a working area of the main control unit 101 and stores temporary data generated when a program is executed. Further, the hard disk drive 108 is a storage device having a built-in recording medium, and stores an application program to be executed and an image memory.

The client PC configured as described above
At 30, the main control unit 101 of the client PC 30
When transferring the image data stored in the corresponding memory box in the memory box area 8a after being scanned and converted by the image reading unit 2 to its own device, the instruction data instructing the corresponding memory box is transmitted. A transmission request signal including the transfer request signal is transmitted to the main control unit 1 in the digital multifunction peripheral 20 via the LAN interface 112 and the LAN 70, and in response thereto, image data transmitted from the digital multifunction peripheral 20 via the LAN 70 Is received and stored in the hard disk drive 108.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, the digital multifunction peripheral 20
Is an image processing apparatus configured to have each function of a copy, a printer, and a scanner in addition to a conventional facsimile communication function such as the G3 system. The main control unit 1 is specifically composed of a CPU, is connected to the following hardware units via a bus 13, controls them, and executes various software functions to be described later. The image reading unit 2 reads a document with a scanner using a CCD or the like, and outputs dot image data converted into black and white binary. The image recording unit 3 is, for example, a printer device of an electrophotographic system or the like, and prints out, as a hard copy, image data scanned and converted by the image reading unit 2 or image data received by facsimile communication from another facsimile device. Record or record character data.

The display unit 4 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display. The display unit 4 displays the operation state of the digital multifunction device 20, and transmits image data of a document to be transmitted and received image data. Is displayed. The operation unit 5 includes character keys, dial numeric keys, speed dial keys, one-touch dial keys, various function keys, and the like necessary for operating the digital multifunction peripheral 20. The display unit 4 may be configured to be a touch panel type so that some or all of the various keys of the operation unit 5 can be substituted. The operation unit 5 has a key for inputting a designated size after scaling.

The ROM 6 stores the digital multifunction device 20
The programs of various softwares required for the operation described above and executed by the main control unit 1 are stored in advance, and the present embodiment includes at least the original reading processing programs of FIGS. 4 and 5. The RAM 7 is an SRAM, a DRAM,
It is composed of an SDRAM or the like, and is used as a working area of the main control unit 1 and stores temporary data generated when a program is executed. When a flash memory is used as the RAM 7, even if the power is cut off due to a power failure, a movement of the apparatus, or the like, the contents of the data are not lost. Here, the RAM 7 includes a memory box management table 7a. The memory box management table 7a
For a plurality of memory boxes in the memory box area 8a in the image memory 8, information such as an address of image data, a file name, and a used client PC for each memory box is stored.

The image memory 8 is composed of a DRAM or the like, and stores image data to be transmitted or received image data, or image data scanned and converted. here,
The image memory 8 includes a memory box area 8a divided into a plurality of memory boxes. In each memory box, the image data transmitted / received by the facsimile function, or the image data scanned and converted by the scanner function or the copy function, and the image data when using the printer function are transferred and temporarily stored. When reading data from a memory box, a transfer request signal is transmitted to read data from the corresponding memory box and transfer it.
Further, the hard disk drive 9 is a storage device having a built-in recording medium, and stores various data and programs.

The fax modem 10 is connected to a public telephone line L
And has the function of a fax modem for normal facsimile communication. An NCU (Network Control Unit) 11 is a hardware circuit that performs closing and opening operations such as a DC loop of an analog public telephone line L and has an automatic dial function. To the public telephone line L. Here, the NCU 11 detects an ID receiving terminal activation signal and a normal telephone call signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service, and transmits a primary response signal and a secondary response signal in the outgoing telephone number notification service as necessary. can do. The NCU 11 may be connected to a baseband transmission type digital line (for example, an ISDN line) via a predetermined terminal adapter and a DSU (Digital Service Unit).

Further, the LAN interface 12
While being connected to the LAN 70 and receiving signals and data from the LAN 70, it transmits signals and data to the LAN 70 and executes interface processing related to LAN communication such as signal conversion and protocol conversion. The image enlargement and reduction processing circuit 14 is configured by a known hardware circuit,
After changing the resolution of the input image data and scaling the image size of the image data to the specified size,
The image data after scaling is output to the image memory 8 and stored.

In the facsimile communication function of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 configured as described above, the dot image data transferred from each of the client PCs 30-1 to 30-N or the dot image data read by the image reading unit 2 is M defined in the standard of facsimile communication
After being encoded by software in accordance with an encoding system such as H, MR, MMR, etc., it is transmitted to the other party's facsimile apparatus, and on the contrary, the encoded data received from the other party's facsimile apparatus is also decoded into software by the software. After being converted, it is stored in the image memory 8 and printed by the image recording unit 3 as needed.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing a document reading process executed by the main controller 1 of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 of FIG.

In step S1 of FIG. 4, a document is set, and in step S2, a memory box number of image data to be read and a designated size Ss after scaling are input using the operation unit 5. Next, in step S3, it is determined whether the start key has been turned on, and YES
The process of step S3 is executed until the condition is satisfied. When YES is determined in the step S3, the document is transported to the CCD unit of the image reading unit 2 in a step S4, and the document size Sd is detected in a step S5. Then, step S6
It is determined whether or not the document size Sd detected in step S4 matches the designated size Ss. If NO, it is determined in step S7 whether or not the document size Sd is larger than the designated size Ss. Here, YES in step S6
When the proceeds to step S11 in FIG. 5 by setting the magnification _{C L} and the reduction ratio _{C R} to 1 in step S8. Further, when the YES at step S7, after the image data read in step S9 sets the reduction ratio C _R to fit within the specified size Ss, the process proceeds to step S11 in FIG. 5. Further, when it is NO in step S7, after the image data read in step S10 sets the enlargement ratio C _L to fit the specified size Ss, the process proceeds to step S11 in FIG. 5.

In step S11, scanning of the original is performed.
Start, and in step S12, C _L= 1 and C_R= 1
Is determined, and if YES, the process proceeds to step S13.
On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to step S14. Steps
Reads the original image in S13 and converts it to image data
And then store it in the specified memory box
Proceed to S15. On the other hand, in step S14,
The original image is read by using the
After conversion to data, set magnification C_LOr reduction rate
C_RTo zoom in or out, respectively, and
And the process proceeds to step S15. And step
In step S15, it is determined whether the scan is completed.
If NO, the process returns to step S12, while YES
If so, the process proceeds to step S16. In step S16
Move the carriage of the image reading unit 2 to the home position
Then, in step S17, it is determined whether there is a next original.
If YES, proceed to step S4 in FIG.
On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to step S18. In addition,
The original is discharged in step S18, and the process proceeds to step S19.
And stores the image data information in the memory box management table 7
and the document reading process is terminated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the main control unit 1 controls the image data from the image reading unit 2 as image input means or the image data from the fax modem 10 as another image input means. Is scaled using the image enlargement / reduction processing circuit 14 so as to have a predetermined size designated by the operation unit 5, stored in a memory box in the memory box area 8 a, and transferred from the client PC 30. The image data stored in the memory box is transmitted to the client PC 30 in response to the signal. Therefore,
Even if the size of the original document is different, the size of the image transferred to the external terminal device is unified, and the handling at the external terminal device can be simplified. The designated size after scaling can be designated by using the operation unit 5.

<Modifications> In the above embodiment, an example of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be widely applied to an image reading apparatus and an image processing apparatus having a scanner function. Can be.

In the above embodiment, the memory box stores the image data of the original image read by the image reading section 2 which is a scanner. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The image data received by the facsimile function 20 may be stored in a memory box and transferred to the client PC 30.

In the above-described embodiment, the size or size after magnification is input using the operation unit 5, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is used when the reading instruction signal is transmitted from the client PC 30. Alternatively, the data may be transmitted by including the size or size after the magnification input by the operation unit 105 of the client PC 30, and may be set as the designated size after the magnification used in the process of step S2 in FIG.

In the above embodiment, the read and converted image data is stored in the memory box. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be stored in storage means such as the image memory 8.

[0031]

As described in detail above, according to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, an input means for inputting image data, and a magnification of an image of the input image data so as to have a predetermined size. Scaling means, storage means for storing the scaled image data, and control for transmitting the image data stored in the storage means to the external terminal device in response to a transfer request signal from an external terminal device Means. Therefore,
Even if the size of the original document is different, the size of the image transferred to the external terminal device is unified, and the handling at the external terminal device can be simplified.

In the image processing apparatus, the predetermined size is specified by the external terminal device. On behalf of
The image processing apparatus further includes an operation unit for inputting a predetermined size. Therefore, the designated size after scaling can be designated by using the operation unit of the image processing apparatus or the operation unit of the external terminal device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a LAN system including a digital multifunction device 20 which is a facsimile device with a copy, printer, and scanner function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a client PC 30 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 of FIG.

4 is a main controller 1 of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 shown in FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a first part of a document reading process executed by the first embodiment.

5 is a main controller 1 of the digital multifunction peripheral 20 shown in FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a second part of the document reading process executed by the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control part, 2 ... Image reading part, 5 ... Operation part, 6 ... ROM, 7 ... RAM, 7a ... Memory box management table, 8 ... Image memory, 8a ... Memory box area, 9 ... Hard disk drive, 12 ... LAN interface 13 bus 13 image enlargement / reduction processing circuit 20 digital composite device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B057 AA11 BA23 CA16 CB16 CC01 CD05 5C062 AA01 AA13 AA35 AB02 AB17 AB38 AB46 AC02 AC22 AC24 AC34 AE01 5C076 AA21 AA22 CB02

Claims (3)

[Claims] An input unit for inputting image data; a scaling unit for scaling an image of the input image data so as to have a predetermined size; and a storage for storing the scaled image data. Means for transmitting image data stored in the storage means to the external terminal device in response to a transfer request signal from the external terminal device. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined size is designated by the external terminal device. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit for inputting a predetermined size.