JP2002368945A - Image input system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image input system that uses a plurality of image readers so as to simply read an original comprising many pages in parallel. SOLUTION: In a 'succeeding original presence mode', start buttons of user interfaces of all composite systems 100 not carrying out an input job are validated. When a user sets an original bundle to an automatic draft feeder of an optional composite system 100 and depresses a start button, the composite systems 100 starts the input job and a hard disk 122 writes the image data read by an image reader 111, and a transfer job is started and the image data written in the hard disk 122 are transferred to the other composite systems 100. A management table 124 is used to link the read image data in the order of read start instruction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image input apparatus for reading an image in cooperation with a plurality of image reading means. It can be input with.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an image input device for inputting a large number of originals by dividing it with a plurality of image reading devices or units, but it is not easy to use. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-116429
In the image reading method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-209, all originals must be divided in advance and set in respective image reading devices before processing. In addition, Tokuho 10-19
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1011, it is necessary to specify an image reading device to be used and an order in advance. These prior arts do not consider inputting a plurality of documents while adding a document exceeding the capacity of an automatic document feeder (ADF). Further, these prior arts do not consider measures to be taken when a reading trouble occurs during reading.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an easy-to-use image input technique for efficiently inputting a large number of documents using a plurality of image reading apparatuses. It is intended to be.

[0004]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a configuration as described in the claims is adopted. Here, the contents described in the claims will be supplementarily described.

That is, according to the present invention, in a system for reading a document by using a plurality of image reading devices simultaneously and in parallel, a reading start instructing means corresponding to each of the image reading devices is provided, and the image corresponding to the reading start instruction is provided. The original is read from the reading device, and the obtained image data is connected and used according to the time order instructed to start reading.

The reading start instructing means may be provided in at least each image reading device, or the reading start instructing means may be provided in one control console.

[0007] The image reading apparatus that has completed reading can be used for inputting the next bundle of originals.

[0008] Even if one image reading device stops reading for some reason during reading, the other image reading device continues reading. That is, only the timing at which the reading start instruction is issued is important, and the image reading apparatus that has received the reading start instruction executes image reading independently.

The reading is stopped by the image reading device, and thereafter, the input can be continued by an arbitrary image reading device. Alternatively, reading can be stopped by the image reading device, and thereafter, input can be performed again by an arbitrary image reading device. In this case, stop reading on the image reading device and re-input after
Alternatively, the image reading apparatus used for the continuous input may be an image reading apparatus that has first been instructed to start reading after instructing to stop.

[0010] At least with respect to the image reading apparatus during image input, the position order of the document input by the image reading apparatus may be displayed to the user in association with the image reading apparatus.

The image data read from the image reading device can be processed in a priority order based on the order of use.

When an interrupt is instructed, an image read by one or a plurality of image reading apparatuses that have received the interrupt must not be included in the image data being input during the period from when the interrupt is received until the interrupt is released. Can be

When the designation of the image reading device to be used for reading and the actual reading instruction are separated, that is, when the designation of image reading is specified and then the reading start is individually or simultaneously specified. Alternatively, the images may be connected in the order in which they were specified. For example, when the image data is set in the automatic document feeder, and then the start of reading is instructed all at once or in any order, the image data may be connected in the time sequence set in the automatic document feeder.

The image reading device may be an image reading unit of a normal copying machine, a scanner as an individual device, or an image reading unit forming a part of a predetermined information device. The image reading apparatuses may be connected by a dedicated bus, or may be connected by a communication network such as a private communication network.

The present invention can also be realized as a method,
Of course, a part thereof can be realized as computer software. Further, a recording medium for causing a computer to execute the computer software is also included in the present invention.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an image output system that performs copying by linking a plurality of complex systems each including a copying machine and a computer via a bus. Of course, the present invention can be similarly applied to an image output system in which a plurality of ordinary copying machines are connected by a dedicated bus or an image output system in which printers are connected via a communication network. In this embodiment, a series of originals is divided into a plurality of original bundles and set in an automatic document feeder of a plurality of composite systems, and reading is started in the composite system in the order of arrangement of the original bundles. The read data is transmitted to each complex system, and each complex system outputs a series of manuscripts by the number of copies assigned.

FIG. 1 shows the entire image output system of this embodiment. In this figure, a composite system 100 (1) in which a copying machine and a computer are connected by a bus is shown.
00A to 100N) are connected to the LAN 200. LAN 200 is, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark).
It is. The copying machine 110 of the complex system 100 is a normal digital copying machine, and has an image reading device 111, an image forming device 112, and the like. A configuration similar to that of a normal copying machine, such as an automatic document feeder, a sorter, and a finisher (staple processing device), can be adopted, and no special description is given here. The computer 120 is a normal personal computer, and can configure a user interface using, for example, a touch panel 121 formed of a liquid crystal display device. The computer 120 has a hard disk 122 and stores the image data (including the compressed data) read by the image reading device 111 on the hard disk 122. Signal exchange between the copying machine 110 and the computer 120 is performed by a dedicated bus 130.
Done through. The dedicated bus 130 is specific to the copying machine 110, and an expansion board for connecting the bus 130 to an expansion bus of the computer 120 is mounted on the computer 120.

Here, for convenience of explanation, the complex system 100A issues a copy instruction and the complex system 100A
A case where copying is performed cooperatively with A to 100N (the total number is assumed to be n) will be described. The composite system 100A that issues a copy instruction may be hereinafter referred to as a parent machine. Further, the other complex systems 100B to 100N may be referred to as slaves. A mode in which a plurality of multifunction systems 100 cooperate to perform copying is herein referred to as an interlock mode. It goes without saying that the process of terminating the process only with the image data without performing the image formation can be similarly performed. In this case, the image data is stored in any one of the complex systems 100, or the image data is transferred to another information processing system, so that the user can use it.

The touch panel 121 serving as a user interface may be provided only in the master unit.

FIG. 2 schematically shows the function of the computer 120 of the multifunction system 100A of the master unit. In this figure, the control unit 123 responds to a user's instruction input using the user interface of the touch panel 121. Various controls for outputting an image are performed accordingly. The management table 124 serially numbers the bundle of documents in the order in which the reading is started, and manages the state. In the following description, the description will focus on the master unit and one slave unit, but it goes without saying that a plurality of slave units can be used.

When no instruction is input from the touch panel 121 of the multifunction peripheral 100A, the copier 110 of the multifunction peripheral 100A can be used in a normal mode. Can be performed. When copying is being performed based on an instruction from the touch panel 121 of the multifunction system 100A, the user interface of the copying machine 110 is appropriately disabled. Other composite system 100
The same applies to B to 100N.

A control unit (not shown) is also provided in the computer 120 of each of the slave multifunction systems 100B to 100N, and controls the operation of each of the multifunction systems 100B to 100N.

FIG. 3 shows a composite system 100A of the parent device and a composite system 100 of the child device by the control unit 123 of FIG.
B to 100N indicate a state in which a transition is made. In this embodiment, the states include a standby mode, a next original absence mode, a next original present mode, and a stop mode. of course,
Various other state machines can be employed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Hereinafter, referring to the state transition of FIG. 3 and a display example of the touch panel of the complex systems 100A to 100N,
The operation of the embodiment will be described.

First, when the user operates the multifunction peripheral 100
If you instruct linked copy in A, it will be in "standby mode",
The display of the user interface (touch panel 121) as shown in FIG. 4 appears. The left is the display of the parent device, and the right is the display of the child device. The user is the master system complex system 10
When a start button on the user interface (touch panel 121) of the main unit 0A is pressed, the “standby mode” is changed to the “next original mode” and the multifunction peripheral 100A
Starts reading the image of the bundle of originals, and writes the read image data to the hard disk 122. Further, the composite system 100A of the parent machine
Converts the read image data into another complex system 100B.
Activate the job to be transferred to ~ 100N. The interface of the composite system 100 changes as shown in FIG.

The read job and the transfer job are managed in the management table 124 in association with the order in which the start button is pressed. FIG. 6 shows the contents of the management table 124 in the initial “next document absence mode”. In this state, the master unit performs a reading job on the first document bundle, and the master unit performs a transfer job to the slave unit. By displaying the sequence number on the user interface, each of the image reading apparatuses 1 of the multiple systems 100A to 100N is displayed.
The user is shown the order of the bundle of documents divided into eleven.

Further, when the user presses the “next document present” button on the user interface (FIG. 5), the control unit 123 switches the “next document no mode” to the “next document present mode”. In the “next manuscript present mode”, the start button is enabled on the user interface of all the multifunction systems 100 that have not performed an input job, as shown in FIG. The user can select any complex system 100
When a bundle of documents is set in the automatic document feeder and the start button is pressed, an input job is started in the multifunction system 100, the image data read by the image reading device 111 is written to the hard disk 122, and a transfer job is started. Then, the image data written on the hard disk 122 is transferred to another multifunction system 100. Further, the interface of the composite system 100 of the parent device and the child device is as shown in FIG. These input jobs and transfer jobs are newly registered in the management table as shown in FIG. 9 in association with the second document bundle.

Similarly, when the next set of originals is processed by another slave unit, the same processing is performed.
0. The same applies hereinafter. The multifunction system (master machine, slave machine) 100 for which the input job has been completed can be used to input a new document bundle.

The transfer control unit, which is a part of the control unit 123,
The transfer jobs are managed in a priority order based on the order in which the start buttons are pressed, for example, so that only one of the transfer jobs in the management table 124 whose reading has started first actually performs the transfer process. When one reading is completed and the corresponding transfer job ends, the transfer is permitted to the next transfer job. If the transfer is interrupted as a result of the interruption of the reading due to a jam or the like, the transfer is permitted for the next transfer job.

Each composite system 100 receives the image data, stores it in the hard disk 122, and assembles the image data into one document according to the order of the management table 124. Further, the image forming apparatuses 112 of the respective composite systems 100 sequentially output copies of the original from the first page.

When the user instructs "no next document" on the user interface, the control unit 123 invalidates the start buttons of the image reading apparatuses 111 of all the multifunction peripherals 100, and deletes all input jobs and transfer jobs in the management table 124. , And wait for the output to finish in all complex systems.

When the user instructs the image reading apparatus 112 of the multifunction system 100 to cancel, the control unit 123 shifts to the "suspension mode" and waits for the user's instruction as shown in FIG. The stop instruction is registered in the management table 124 as shown in FIG. The user can copy the remaining document to the image reading device 11 of the multifunction system 100.
When the start button is set and the start button is pressed, an input job and a transfer job are generated. These jobs are not at the end of the management table 124, but as shown in FIG. And inserts the input job between the jobs, and transitions to the original mode. As a result, after instructing the cancellation, any of the complex systems 1
The input can be continued from the image reading device 111 of 00. It should be noted that instead of continuing the input, a new job may be used to replace a job that has been cancelled, so that the job can be re-input from any image reading device 111 after the job is canceled.

Alternatively, when the user instructs to cancel, the job that has been canceled is recorded by, for example, setting a flag in the management table 124, and the control unit 123 thereafter transmits the image designated by the user based on the user's instruction. An input job and a transfer job are generated in accordance with a reading instruction from the reading device 111, and the input job is inserted or replaced between the canceled job specified by the user and the next job, thereby canceling the input job. May be additionally input or re-input later.

When the user selects one of the image reading apparatuses 111 of the complex system 100 which is in a standby state and presses an interrupt button on the user interface of the complex system 100, the control unit 123 causes the image reading apparatus 111 to operate. Set to interrupt mode. Control unit 1
23 surrenders the image reading apparatus 111 in the interrupt mode to the interrupt processing control function, and does not perform the processing. When the user presses the interrupt button again,
The image reading device returns to the standby state.

In this way, the operation of pressing the start button after setting the subdivided original in the empty image reading apparatus is repeated, and the input original is transferred from the first page to each node and transferred. By outputting from the edge, the user can obtain the output in the shortest time without having to wait. In addition, even if the input of a specific image reading device is stopped due to a malfunction of the automatic document feeder, etc., it is possible to recover by a simple operation of setting the remaining document to an empty image reading device and pressing the start button. It is not necessary to redo the entire input, and no troublesome replacement instruction is required. In addition, since some image reading apparatuses can be temporarily assigned to another processing by interruption, even if a large amount of input processing is performed, other tasks are not hindered. As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to efficiently input a document in a short time by using a plurality of image reading devices. It is only necessary to repeat the simple and clear operation of setting the bundle of documents on the automatic document feeder and pressing the reading start button, without being bothered by the priority order or connection order setting operation of the image reading device. In order to make it possible to combine and use the readable ladder, even if the reading is stopped in a certain image reading device, the read portion can be processed in advance, so that the waiting time can be reduced. Further, even if the reading is stopped by a certain image reading apparatus, only that part can be compensated for later, so that there is no need to redo the entire input operation or re-input all the parts after the stopped part. The re-reading operation is a simple operation of setting a document on the automatic document feeder and instructing the start of the document. Since the read image is processed from the reading shoe according to the priority in use, the waiting time is reduced. By interrupting, some image reading devices can be given up for input of another job, so that urgent work can be prioritized, and overall work efficiency is improved.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, a large number of pages of a document can be input at a high speed by using a plurality of image reading devices in a manner that is easy for the user to understand and without any complication.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a main state transition in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an interface display in a standby mode according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an interface in a next original absence mode according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the contents of a management table in an initial next-document absence mode of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an interface in a next original mode according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an interface screen when document reading is newly started in the next document present mode in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the contents of a management table when document reading is newly started in the next document present mode in the above embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the contents of a management table when reading of another document is started in the state of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an interface screen when a stop button is pressed during reading of a document.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the contents of a management table when a stop button is pressed during reading of a document.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the contents of a management table when document reading is restarted by another device after the stop mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 complex system 110 copier 111 image reading device 112 image forming device 120 computer 121 touch panel 122 hard disk 123 control unit 124 management table 130 bus 200 LAN

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of image reading means, a reading start instruction means for giving a reading start instruction to each of the plurality of image reading means, and a time order of the reading start instruction made by the reading start instruction means, An image linking means for linking image data read by corresponding image reading means. 2. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein said reading start instruction means is provided in a control console provided in association with one of said image reading means. 3. The reading start instruction means is provided in association with each of the image reading means.
The image input device according to the above. 4. The image connecting means according to claim 1, wherein said image reading means newly connects the image read by said image reading means based on a new image reading start instruction given to the image reading means which has finished reading the image. Item 4. The image input device according to item 1, 2 or 3. 5. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein image reading by another image reading unit is continued even if image reading is stopped in a part of the image reading unit. 6. The image linking means according to claim 1, wherein said image linking means links the image data read by said image reading means which has continued the image reading with the image data of said image reading means having stopped the image reading. The image input device according to 3, 4, or 5. 7. The image linking unit according to claim 1, wherein the image linking unit links the image data read by the image reading unit that has executed the stopped image reading again, instead of the image data of the image reading unit that has stopped the image reading. ,
The image input device according to 2, 3, 4, or 5. 8. The image input device according to claim 6, wherein the image reading means which has continued the stopped image reading is an image reading means to which a reading start instruction is first given after the reading is stopped. 9. The image input device according to claim 7, wherein the image reading unit that has re-executed the stopped image reading is an image reading unit to which a reading start instruction is first given after the reading is stopped. 10. The image input device according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a position order of a document being read by at least an image reading means which is reading an image. 11. The image input device according to claim 1, wherein the image data read by the image reading means is processed in a priority order based on a use order. 12. When an interrupt is instructed, image data read by one or a plurality of image reading means that has received the interrupt from the time the interrupt is received until the time the interrupt is released is replaced with the image data being input. The image input device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, which does not include the image input device. 13. A plurality of image reading means, a job issuing means for issuing a reading job to each of the plurality of image reading means, and associating information for associating a reading job issuing order with image data generated by the reading job. An image input device comprising: means for storing image data; and means for connecting image data generated by two or more image reading means using the association information. 14. The image input device according to claim 13, wherein said linking means links the image data in the order of chronological order. 15. The image input apparatus according to claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of image reading units continues image reading independently of the other image reading units at least after the start of image reading. 16. A plurality of image reading means, means for designating each of the plurality of image reading means to be used for predetermined image reading, and the designated order and image data generated by a reading job. An image input apparatus comprising: means for storing association information to be associated; and means for linking image data generated by two or more image reading units using the association information. 17. An image input method for reading an image using a plurality of image reading means, wherein the image is read by a corresponding image reading means in accordance with a time sequence of a reading start instruction sent to each of the plurality of image reading means. An image input method characterized by linking image data.