JP2003046704A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor which can transfer image data with priority, when image data to be urgently transferred are present. SOLUTION: When designated image data are read from a memory box in a memory box region 8a and transferred to one client PC30, in response to a scan document transfer demand packet signal of ordinary priority from the client PC30 (S25), a main control part 1 of digital compound equipment 20 interrupts transfer of the image data to the one client PC30 (S16), when the other scan document transfer command packet signal whose priority is urgent, is received from other client PC30 (YES in S13). In response to the other packet signal, designated image data are read from the memory box in the region 8a and transferred to the other client PC30 (S17).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, for example, reads an original image by an image scanner (hereinafter referred to as a scanner) or an image reading unit of a digital composite device, converts it into image data, and stores it in an image storage device. The present invention relates to an image processing device that transfers image data stored in an image storage device to the external terminal device in response to a transfer request signal from the external terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A digital multi-function peripheral, which is a facsimile machine with copy, printer, and scanner functions, and a plurality of client terminals, which are external terminals such as personal computers, are connected via a local area network (hereinafter referred to as LAN). The LAN system made up of has been put to practical use. In this conventional LAN system, the scanner in the digital multi-function peripheral converts a document image into read image data, stores it in a memory box in the image memory corresponding to each client device, and requests transfer from each client device. In response to the signal, the image data is read from the memory box in the image memory and transferred to the corresponding client device via the LAN.

[0003]

However, in the LAN system of the prior art, the image data transfer to each client device was performed on a first-come-first-served basis of the transfer request signal, so that there is an image data to be transferred urgently. However, if there are many queues, there is a problem that the transfer cannot be performed immediately.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide an image processing apparatus which can preferentially transfer image data when there is image data to be transferred urgently.

[0005]

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus which is connected to a plurality of external terminal devices and has an image storage means for storing image data. In response to the transfer request signal, the specified image data is read from the image storage means and transferred to the first external terminal device, and the second external device different from the first external terminal device is read. When another transfer request signal having a higher priority than the transfer request signal is received from the external terminal device, the transfer of the image data to the first external terminal device is interrupted and a response to the another transfer request signal is made. Then, a control means for reading the designated image data from the image storage means and transferring it to the second external terminal device is provided.

Further, in the image processing apparatus, the control means notifies the first external terminal device, which has interrupted the transfer of the image data, that the image data cannot be transferred at present.

Further, in the image processing apparatus, the control means interrupts the transfer of the image data, and when the transfer of the image data in response to the another transfer request signal is completed, the interrupted transfer of the image data is possible. It is characterized by

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 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 provided with a digital multi-function peripheral 20 which is a facsimile machine with a copy, printer and scanner function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The LAN system according to this embodiment includes a plurality of N client personal computers (hereinafter referred to as client PCs) 30- which are external terminal devices.
1 to 30-N (hereinafter, collectively referred to as reference numeral 30)
An image processing system including a digital multi-function device 20 connected to a public telephone network 80 via a public telephone line L, and a router device 60 connected to the Internet 90 via a LAN 70. . By connecting from each client PC 30 to the Internet 90 via the router device 60 and the mail server device (not shown), it is possible to browse a home page and send and receive e-mail, and each client PC 30
By accessing the digital multi-function peripheral 20, it is possible to commonly use the functions of the copy, printer, scanner and facsimile of the digital composite apparatus 20.

Digital composite device 2 according to this embodiment
0, a memory box in the memory box area 8a of the image memory 8 is provided, and the main control unit 1 includes the image reading unit 2
The image data of the image read by is stored in the memory box in the memory box area 8a (step S5 in FIG. 4) in response to a scan document transfer request packet signal from one client PC 30 having a normal priority. When the designated image data is read from the memory box in the memory box area 8a and transferred to the one client PC 30 (step S2 in FIG. 6).
5) When another scan document transfer request packet signal having an urgent priority is received from another client PC 30 (YES in step S13), the transfer of the image data to the one client PC 30 is interrupted (step S13). S16), in response to the another scan document transfer request packet signal, the designated image data is read from the memory box in the memory box area 8a and transferred to the another client PC 30 (step S17). .

Further, the main control section 1 notifies the one client PC 30 which has interrupted the transfer of the image data, that the transfer is not currently possible (step S24). Further, the main control unit 1 interrupts the transfer of the image data (step S16), and when the transfer of the image data in response to the another scan document transfer request packet signal is completed (YES in step S18), the interrupted image. Data transfer is enabled (step S19).

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

In FIG. 2, the client PC 30 is
The external terminal device is a known personal computer and executes processes such as generation, recording, and storage of image data and character data. In the present embodiment, the client PC 30 is used as, for example, 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 described later. An image reading unit and an image recording unit (not shown) are optionally provided in the client PC 30. The display unit 104 is
It is a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a CRT display, and displays the operating 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, and is used to input character data and instruction commands. Here, the operation unit 105 is configured to be able to specify the number of the memory box to be transferred and the document number (or file number) of the image data stored in the image memory 8 of the digital multifunction device 20, and the operation unit 1
When the number of the memory box and the document number (or the file number) are designated by 05, the main control unit 101 generates a scan document transfer request packet signal including the number of the memory box and the document number to output the digital multifunction device 20.
Send to. In this LAN system, the digital multi-function peripheral 20 to be described later responds to one scan document transfer request packet signal by using a packet signal including image data of, for example, 20 kB, and each client P
Since it is transferred to C30, for example, when transferring a 1 MB image data file, each client PC 3
Every time 0 receives a packet signal including image data of 20 kB, the scan document transfer request packet signal is repeatedly transmitted to the digital multi-function peripheral 20 until all image data is received.

The ROM 106 is for the client PC 3
Various software programs required for the 0 start-up operation and executed by the main control unit 101 are stored in advance. The RAM 107 includes SRAM, DRAM, SD.
It is composed of a RAM or the like, is used as a working area of the main control unit 101, and stores temporary data generated when the 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.

A client PC configured as described above
30, the main control unit 101 of the client PC 30
Indicates the corresponding memory box and document number 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. A scan document transfer request packet signal including instruction data is transmitted to the main control unit 1 in the digital multi-function peripheral 20 via the LAN interface 112 and the LAN 70, and in response to this, the digital multi-function peripheral 20 transmits via the LAN 70. The transmitted image data is received and stored in the hard disk drive 108.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital compound device 20 of FIG.

In FIG. 3, the digital composite device 20 is shown.
Is an image processing apparatus configured to have a copying function, a printer function, and a scanner function in addition to the conventional facsimile communication function such as the G3 method. The main control unit 1 is specifically configured by a CPU, is connected to the following hardware units via a bus 13 and controls them, and also executes various software functions 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 monochrome binary. The image recording unit 3 is, for example, a printer device such as an electrophotographic system, 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 device (LCD) or a CRT display, and displays the operation state of the digital multi-function device 20, image data of an original to be transmitted, and received image data. Is displayed. The operation unit 5 includes character keys, a numeric keypad for dialing, a speed dial key, a one-touch dial key, and various function keys necessary for operating the digital multifunction device 20. The display unit 4 may be of a touch panel type so that some or all of the various keys of the operation unit 5 may be substituted.

The ROM 6 is the digital composite device 20.
Various programs required for the operation of the main control unit 1 are stored in advance, and in the present embodiment, at least the image data storage process in the memory box of FIG. 6 includes a program for image data transfer processing. RAM7 is SRAM, DR
It is composed of AM, SDRAM, etc. and is used as a working area of the main control unit 1 to store temporary data generated when the program is executed. When a flash memory is used as the RAM 7, the content of the data is not lost even when the power is cut off due to a power failure, movement of the device, or the like. Here, the RAM 7 includes a memory box management table 7a. Memory box management table 7
a stores the information (IP address or MAC address, etc.) of the image data address, document number or file name of each memory box, client PC used, etc. for a plurality of memory boxes in the memory box area in the image memory 8. To do.

The image memory 8 is composed of a DRAM or the like, and stores image data to be transmitted or received image data, or scanned and converted image data. here,
The image memory 8 includes a memory box area 8a divided into a plurality of memory boxes. Image data transmitted / received by the facsimile function, image data scanned and converted by the scanner function or copy function, and image data when using the printer function are transferred to each memory box and temporarily stored. When reading from the memory box, in response to the scan document transfer request packet signal including the information of the memory box number and the document number of the scan document, the image data of the corresponding scan document is read from the corresponding memory box and the corresponding client PC 30. Transfer to. 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 a public telephone line L
Is a modem that has the function of a fax modem for normal facsimile communication. An NCU (Network Control Unit) 11 is a hardware circuit that performs an operation of closing and opening a DC loop of an analog public telephone line L and has an automatic dialing function, and if necessary, the fax modem 10 To the public telephone line L. Here, the NCU 11 detects an ID receiving terminal activation signal and a normal telephone ringing signal in the originating telephone number notification service, and transmits a primary response signal and a secondary response signal in the originating telephone number notification service as necessary. can do. The NCU 11 may be connected to a digital line (for example, ISDN line) of a baseband transmission system via a predetermined terminal adapter and a DSU (subscriber line terminating device: Digital Service Unit).

Further, the LAN interface 12 is
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.

In the facsimile communication function of the digital multi-function device 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 by the facsimile communication standard
After being encoded by software according to an encoding method such as H, MR, MMR, etc., it is transmitted to the facsimile machine of the other party, while the encoded data received from the facsimile machine of the other party is also decoded into image data by the software. After being converted, it is stored in the image memory 8 and printed by the image recording unit 3 as needed.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a process of storing image data in the memory box, which is executed by the main controller 1 of the digital multi-function peripheral 20 of FIG.

In step S1 of FIG. 4, first, a document is set, and in step S2, a memory box number for storing the image data of the document image is specified, and then step S2.
In 3, it is determined whether or not the start key is turned on. If YES, then the process proceeds to step S4, whereas if NO, then the process returns to step S2. Then, in step S4, the scanning of the original is started, the original image scanned in step S5 is converted into image data, the image data is stored in the memory box of the designated memory box number, and the scanning is completed in step S6. If YES, the process proceeds to step S7 if YES and N
When it is O, the process returns to step S4. Further, step S7
In, the address of the image data in the image memory 8, the document number (or file name), the client PC to be used
The scan information including the information (IP address or MAC address) of 30 is registered in the memory box management table 7a, and the image data storage processing in the memory box ends.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow charts showing the image data transfer process executed by the main controller 1 of the digital multi-function peripheral 20 of FIG. In the present embodiment, a flag indicating a document transfer state with a normal priority is set to
When the flag is "normal document transfer status flag", and the flag is active, the image data with an urgent priority (image data transferred in response to a scan document transfer request packet signal with an urgent priority is Is not being transferred, and image data having a normal priority (image data transferred in response to a scan document transfer request packet signal having a normal priority) can be transferred. On the other hand, when the flag is paused, the image data with the urgent priority is being transferred, and the transfer of the image data with the normal priority is temporarily interrupted, and no new transfer is performed. .

In step S11 of FIG. 5, after the document transfer status flag having the normal priority is actively initialized, it is determined in step S12 whether or not the scan document transfer request packet signal is received, and until YES. When YES is obtained by repeating the process of step S12, it is determined in step S13 whether or not the scan document transfer request packet signal with the urgent priority has been received. If YES, the process proceeds to step S14, and if NO. Proceeds to step S21 in FIG. Next, in step S14, it is determined whether or not the document matching the memory box number and the document number has been stored in the corresponding memory box. If YES, the process proceeds to step S16.
If NO, the process proceeds to step S15. After notifying the client PC 30 that there is no requested document in step S15, the process returns to step S12.

In step S16, by setting the document transfer status flag of the normal priority to pause, the transfer of the image data of the normal priority is temporarily interrupted, and a new transfer is set not to be performed. Then, in step S17, the document of the image data whose priority is urgent is read from the corresponding memory box and transferred to the requesting client PC 30. Then
In step S18, it is determined whether or not all the documents of the designated image data of which the priority is urgent have been transferred, and Y
If ES, the process proceeds to step S19, and if NO, the process returns to step S12. In step S19, the document transfer status flag with the normal priority is set to active, and the image data with the normal priority is set to the transferable state, and then the process returns to step S12.

In step S21 of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not the document of the image data matching the scan box number and the document number has been accumulated in the corresponding memory box. If YES, the process proceeds to step S23 while NO. If so, the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, the requesting client PC 30 is notified that there is no requested document, and the process returns to step S12 in FIG.
On the other hand, in step S23, it is determined whether or not the document transfer status flag with the normal priority is pause, and YES.
If NO, the process proceeds to step S24, while if NO, the process proceeds to step S25. In step S24, after notifying the requesting client PC 30 that the requested document cannot be transferred at present, the process returns to step S12 in FIG. Further, in step S25, the document of the image data having the normal priority is read from the corresponding memory box and transferred to the requesting client PC 30, and then the process returns to step S12 of FIG.

In the image data transfer processing configured as described above, when the document of the image data whose priority is urgent is being transferred, steps S12 to S1 are performed.
The loop state of step S12 is entered via NO in S3, S16, S16, S17, and S18, and the document is transferred, but when all the documents are transferred, step S18 is performed.
Is YES, and in step S19, the document transfer status flag with the normal priority is returned to active, so that the document can be transferred with the normal priority. While transferring a document with image data whose priority is urgent,
When a scan document transfer request packet signal with a normal priority is received, the result is NO in step S13, and even if the corresponding document is already stored in the memory box (YES in step S21), the priority is normal in step S23. Since the document transfer status flag is No, the answer is YES in step S23, and in step S24, the requesting client PC 30 is notified that the requested document cannot be transferred currently.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the main control section 1 stores the image data of the image read by the image reading section 2 in the memory box in the memory box area 8a (see FIG. 4). (Step S5) In response to a scan document transfer request packet signal with a normal priority from one client PC 30, the designated image data is read from the memory box in the memory box area 8a and transferred to the one client PC 30. (Step S25 in FIG. 6), another scan document transfer request packet signal having an urgent priority is received from another client PC 30 (step S13).
YES), the transfer of the image data to the one client PC 30 is interrupted (step S16), and the image data designated from the memory box in the memory box area 8a in response to the another scan document transfer request packet signal. Is read and transferred to the other client PC 30 (step S17). Therefore, the client PC3
When there is image data to be urgently transferred at 0, the image data can be transferred with priority.

Further, the main control section 1 notifies the one client PC 30 which has interrupted the transfer of the image data, that the transfer is not currently possible (step S24). Therefore, it is possible to know the reason why the client PC 30 cannot transfer data at present.

Further, the main control unit 1 interrupts the transfer of the image data (step S16), and when the transfer of the image data for the other scan document transfer request packet signal is completed (YES in step S18), The interrupted image data transfer is enabled (step S19). Therefore, after the urgent image data is transferred, the interrupted transfer of the original image data can be restarted in response to the scan document transfer request packet signal.

<Modification> In the above embodiments, an example of the digital composite device 20 is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an image reading device having a scanner function, an image storage device having an image memory, and the like. It can be widely applied to image processing devices.

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

In the above embodiments, there are only two priorities, normal and urgent, but the present invention is not limited to this.
Multiple levels are provided as urgent priorities, scan document transfer request packet signals other than higher priority scan document transfer request packet signals are placed in a pause state, image data transfer is interrupted, and the highest priority scan The image data transfer process based on the document transfer request packet signal may be preferentially processed.

[0038]

As described above in detail, according to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the first image processing apparatus is connected to a plurality of external terminal devices and is provided with an image storage means for storing image data. In response to the transfer request signal from the external terminal device, when the specified image data is read from the image storage means and transferred to the first external terminal device,
When another transfer request signal having a higher priority than the transfer request signal is received from the second external terminal device different from the first external terminal device, the image data to the first external terminal device is received. Is interrupted, and in response to the another transfer request signal, the control means for reading the specified image data from the image storage means and transferring it to the second external terminal device. Therefore, when the external terminal device has image data to be transferred urgently, the image data can be transferred with priority.

Further, in the image processing apparatus, the control means notifies the first external terminal device, which has interrupted the transfer of the image data, that the transfer is not currently possible. Therefore, it is possible to know the reason why the external terminal device cannot transfer at present.

Further, in the image processing apparatus, the control means interrupts the transfer of the image data, and when the transfer of the image data in response to the another transfer request signal is completed, the interrupted image data can be transferred. To Therefore, after transferring the urgent image data, the interrupted transfer of the original image data can be restarted in response to the transfer request signal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a LAN system including a digital multi-function peripheral 20 which is an embodiment of the present invention and which is a facsimile machine with a copy, printer and scanner function.

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

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

4 is a main control unit 1 of the digital multi-function peripheral 20 of FIG.
7 is a flowchart showing a process of storing image data in a memory box, which is executed by

5 is a main control unit 1 of the digital multi-function peripheral 20 of FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a first part of an image data transfer process executed by

6 is a main control section 1 of the digital multi-function peripheral 20 of FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a second part of the image data transfer process executed by

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main control 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, 20 ... Digital composite Devices, 30, 30-1 to 30-N ... Client personal computer (client PC), 70 ... Local area network (LAN), 101 ... Main control unit.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus comprising an image storage means for storing image data, which is connected to a plurality of external terminal devices, wherein the image storage means is responsive to a transfer request signal from the first external terminal device. When the designated image data is read and transferred to the first external terminal device, the second external terminal device different from the first external terminal device prioritizes the transfer request signal. When another transfer request signal of high image quality is received, the transfer of the image data to the first external terminal device is interrupted, and the image data designated by the image storage means is transferred in response to the another transfer request signal. An image processing apparatus comprising a control means for reading and transferring to the second external terminal device. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit notifies the first external terminal device, which has interrupted the transfer of the image data, that the image data cannot be currently transferred. 3. The control means interrupts the transfer of the image data, and enables the transfer of the interrupted image data when the transfer of the image data in response to the another transfer request signal is completed. The image processing device according to claim 1 or 2.