JP2003087491A - Image forming system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system that can automatically back up an image file when revisions such as deletion or insertion of an image from/to the image file take place. SOLUTION: The image forming system comprising two-way connections of a plurality of image forming apparatuses each including an original reader 1g for reading an original and an image storage device 1f for storing a read image, is provided with a setting means that transfers an image file to the image forming apparatus of a linked destination for the setting when the stored image file is subject to revision.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a digital copy,
The present invention relates to an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses such as a digital multi-function peripheral are connected so that they can communicate with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, networking has progressed, and image forming apparatuses such as digital multi-function peripherals and printers are increasingly connected to a LAN. Further, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-32
Like the file system disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 241,
There is also a device in which the read image is stored in a nonvolatile storage device such as an HDD and the image can be reused / printed at an arbitrary time.

Backup of stored images in these devices and systems includes saving of paper originals, saving in a personal computer, and saving in an optical disk. Further, a technique for improving the productivity of copying by connecting image forming apparatuses via a network, transferring image data read by one scanner to the other, and printing by both apparatuses, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7- 321974 publication.

[0004]

It has been considered that backup can be performed by transferring a read image file between image forming apparatuses with a non-volatile memory device that are connected to each other. . At that time, it is necessary to manually back up the accumulated image files when there is a change such as page addition or deletion. Further, when backups occur frequently, a large number of backup files remain, and the original accumulated files are difficult to handle. Therefore, a method of organizing backup files is necessary. Therefore, the present invention solves the following problems.

A first object is to enable a new backup to be automatically made when an image file is changed, such as deleted or inserted.

A second object is to extract the same file from the stored files of the transfer destination and the transfer source, and to make it easier to organize, such as deleting a backup file having a difference.

The third object is that it is not practical when compared with actual image data or compressed image data because it takes a long time to transfer the data. Generally, the compressed size of an image differs depending on the type of the image even if the image size is the same. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to quickly show the result by determining the difference between the image files based on the compressed image size, the number of pages, and the file identifier.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the image forming system according to claim 1 is capable of bidirectional communication with a plurality of image forming apparatuses having a document reading unit and a read image storing unit. When there is a change in the accumulated image file in an image forming apparatus having a connecting operation unit that is connected to the image forming apparatus and can transfer the image information read by any one image forming apparatus to a different image forming apparatus. The setting means for transferring the image file to the image forming apparatus to which the image is connected and setting the setting is provided.

An image forming system according to a second aspect is the image forming system according to the first aspect.
In the above, there is provided extraction means for extracting a different or the same image file from all the stored image files of the transfer destination and the transfer source.

The image forming system according to claim 3 is the image forming system according to claim 2.
In the above, there is provided a judgment recognizing means for judging whether the file identifier, the number of pages and the compressed image size of each image are the same, and if they are the same, recognizing that they are the same image file.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of an image forming system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus for constructing an image forming system includes a document stack 2 placed on a document table 2 of an automatic document feeder (hereinafter referred to as ADF) 1 with the image surface of the document upward. ,
When the start key on the operation unit is pressed, the lowermost original is fed to a predetermined position on the contact glass 6 by the feeding roller 3 and the feeding belt 4. After the image data of the original document on the contact glass 6 is read by the reading unit 19, the original document that has been read is ejected by the feeding belt 4 and the ejection roller 5. further,
When it is detected by the original set detection 7 that the next original is present on the original table 2, the original is fed onto the contact glass 6 similarly to the previous original. The feeding roller 3, the feeding belt 4 and the discharging roller 5 are driven by a motor.

First tray 8, second tray 9 or third tray
The transfer papers stacked on the tray 10 are respectively fed to the first paper feeding device 1
1, the sheet is fed by the second sheet feeding device 12 or the third sheet feeding device 13, and is conveyed by the vertical conveying unit 14 to a position where it abuts on the photoconductor 15. The image data read by the reading unit 19 is written on the photoconductor 15 by the laser from the writing unit 26, and passes through the developing unit to form a toner image.
The toner image on the photoconductor 15 is transferred while the transfer paper is transported by the transport belt 16 at the same speed as the rotation of the photoconductor 15. Then, the fixing unit 17 fixes the image, and the paper discharge unit 18 discharges the image to the finisher 30, which is a post-processing unit.

The finisher 30 of the post-processing apparatus can guide the transfer paper conveyed by the paper discharge roller 19 of the main body toward the normal paper discharge roller 32 and the staple processing section. By switching the switching plate 31 upward, paper can be discharged to the normal paper discharge tray 34 side via the transport roller 33. Further, by switching the switching plate 31 in the downward direction, it is possible to convey to the staple table 38 via the conveying rollers 35 and 37.

The transfer paper loaded on the staple table 38 is
Every time one sheet is ejected, the jogger 39 for aligning the paper aligns the end faces of the paper, and the stapler 36 binds the paper when the copy is completed. The transfer paper group bound by the stapler 36 is stored in the staple-completed paper discharge tray 40 by its own weight. On the other hand, the normal paper discharge tray 34 is a paper discharge tray that can be moved back and forth. The paper discharge tray unit 34 that can be moved back and forth can be moved back and forth for each document or for each copy unit sorted by the image memory.
This is to sort the copy paper that is simply discharged.

When images are formed on both sides of the transfer paper, the transfer paper fed from each of the paper feed trays 8 to 10 is not guided to the paper discharge tray 34 side, but is branched for path switching. By setting the claw 42 on the upper side, the paper is once stocked in the double-sided paper feeding unit 41. After that, the transfer paper stocked in the double-sided paper feeding unit 41 is re-fed from the double-sided paper feeding unit 41 in order to transfer the toner image formed on the photoconductor 15 again, and the branch claw 42 for path switching. Is set to the lower side and is guided to the paper discharge tray 34. The double-sided sheet feeding unit 41 is used when images are formed on both sides of the transfer sheet in this manner.

The photoconductor 15, the conveyor belt 16, the fixing unit 17, the paper discharge unit 18, and the developing unit are driven by a main motor, and each of the sheet feeding devices 11 to 13 transmits the drive of the main motor by a sheet feeding clutch. To be done. The vertical transport unit 14 is driven to transmit the drive of the main motor by an intermediate clutch.

Next, the electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus that constitutes the image forming system will be described. The electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus is, as shown in FIG. 2, a CPU 1a and a ROM 1b.
, RAM 1c, operation unit 1d, non-volatile RAM 1e
Image storage device 1f, MSU 1h, and image memory 1
j, a communication I / F (interface) 1k, a document reading device 1g, and a printing device 1m are connected for data communication as shown in the figure.

The CPU 1a performs various operations, commands, controls, etc. based on a predetermined program. ROM
1b stores a predetermined program. RAM1
In c, various data when the program is executed are stored. The operation unit 1d includes a hard key such as a start key and a touch panel.

Although not shown, there are a plurality of transfer paper trays capable of accommodating transfer papers of various standard sizes.
A sensor for checking the presence or absence of each sheet is connected. The nonvolatile RAM 1e is a RAM for storing various setting values, file information, page information, etc. even when the power is turned off. The image storage device 1f is a hard disk that stores images stored in the image memory 1j in a nonvolatile manner and expands the images stored in the device onto the image memory 1j.

The MSU 1h is a controller for the image memory 1j, and controls the image memory 1j etc. by a command from the CPU 1a. The main functions are listed below. (1) The image data from the document reading device 1g is stored in the image memory 1j. (2) Image storage device 1f by compressing the image in the image memory 1j
Save to. (3) The compressed image stored in the image storage device 1f is decompressed and expanded on the image memory 1j. (4) Delete the image stored in the image storage device 1f. (5) The printer 1m outputs the image developed in the image memory 1j. (6) Designate an address and set a value on the image memory 1j (draw an image).

The image memory 1j is for storing an image for output. It can be accessed from MSU 1h. The communication I / F (interface) 1k is connected to the image forming apparatus on the other side through the communication I / F (interface) 1k to perform bidirectional data communication. Of course, it does not depend on the communication protocol.

The document reading device 1g uses a DF (document feeder: automatic document feeder) to copy a plurality of documents.
The original images that are read are set to the scanner one by one
It is sent to the image memory 1j and the image storage device 1f through the SU 1h. The printer 1m executes printing based on the image data. In addition, drivers such as various loads and sensors are connected to the CPU. Further, in order to know the creation date and time of the image group, an IC that creates the date and time is connected.

Next, the operation section will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the operation unit includes an LCD display unit 805, a touch panel unit 805 (common to the LCD), and hard key units 801 and 8.
02, 803, 804, 806, 807, 808, 80
It is composed of 9 parts. The LCD display unit and the touch panel unit 805 are such that a liquid crystal panel and a touch panel are overlapped to display various information and touch input is possible.

The hard key 801 is a ten-key pad, the hard key 802 is an enter key for confirming an input value on the ten-key pad, the hard key 803 is a clear key for clearing the input on the ten-key pad, and the hard key 804 is The start key. The hard key 806 is pressed to execute copying, the hard key 807 is pressed to store images from the scanner, and the hard key 808 is pressed to output stored images. By pressing the hard key 808, a list of image files accumulated so far is displayed as shown in FIG. The hard key 809 is used to restore the initial settings.

When any change is made to the accumulated image file, and if the automatic backup mode is set for the file, the image file is automatically backed up to the linked partner side. When the hard key 808 in FIG. 3 is pressed, an image file list screen is displayed on the operation unit. Here, by pressing an arbitrary file, the display of the selected file is highlighted and becomes selected as shown in FIG. By pressing 1101 in FIG. 12, the page number designation screen in FIG. 13 is displayed. Input the number of pages with ten keys, and touch button 12 in Fig. 13.
By pressing the OK key 01, the page number designation deletion processing of FIG. 4 is performed.

In FIG. 4, in step 302, an image discard request is issued to the MSU 1h. In MSU 1h, image discard can be performed by designating the page ID to discard the image data in the image storage device 1f. When the processing in MSU 1h is over and the number of pages or the deletion from the first page is completed in step 304, the file information such as the first page ID is updated. In step 305, the next page ID
Rewrite page information such as. If automatic file backup of file information is set in step 306, file backup processing (see FIG. 5) is performed in step 307.

As for the backup, as shown in FIG. 5, the transmitting side first inquires in step 402 about the receiving state of the other side. If the result is OK, the file information of the corresponding file is transmitted in step 404, the accumulated image file compressed using MSU 1h is read in step 406, the data read in step 407 is transmitted, and the corresponding in step 408. Send page information. Step 406, Step 407, Step 408
Repeat for all pages.

At the receiving side, first, in step 422, an inquiry about the acceptance status is received, and an OK or NG response is made. If the acceptance is NG, the process returns to the confirmation request waiting step 422. If the acceptance is OK, the file information is received and written in the nonvolatile memory in step 426. The image data is received in step 428, and step 4
At 29, the received image data is written to the HDD via the MSU 1h. In step 430, the page information is received and written in the nonvolatile memory 1e. Step 428, Step 429,
Repeat step 430 for the number of pages.

As shown in FIG. 6, images are accumulated, and at the end, whether or not automatic backup is performed is designated. In step 502, the reading mode such as reading density is set. In step 503, it is checked whether or not the start key has been pressed, and reading of the document starts when the start key is pressed. In step 504, the document is fed from the document automatic feeder (DF) to develop the image data on the image memory. In step 505, the image data is compressed, and in step 506, H
Write the compressed image data to DD. Step 507
Write the page information related to the page read by to the memory.

In step 508, if there is no original remaining in the DF, the original reading is finished, and in step 509 the stored image backup mode is set. Since FIG. 11 is displayed on the operation unit, whether to automatically back up is determined by pressing either the touch button 1001 or the touch button 1003, and is set by pressing the touch button 1002. In step 511, the file information is written in the non-volatile memory, and if the automatic backup mode is set, the file is backed up in step 513. In this case, the file is backed up according to the procedure shown in FIG.

In FIG. 8, by pressing the hard key 808 in FIG. 3, a list of accumulated files is displayed. By pressing the same file search button of the touch button 701 in this state, it is possible to compare the files on the linked partner side and check whether they are the same file. The extraction result is displayed as shown in FIG. Further, by pressing the touch button 801 in FIG. 9, the different file in FIG. 14 can be displayed. 9 and 14 can be displayed alternately.

The contents of the file information and page information of device A and device B are shown in FIG. The file information and page information exist in the non-volatile memory 1e. In addition to the illustrated file information page information, there are items such as file names, but only those necessary for explanation are listed.

The file information has the following items. File ID: A number for uniquely identifying a file. Number of pages: number of images in the file First page ID: ID of the first page of the file Transfer source file ID: If the stored file is a backup file transferred from the destination, the file ID of the same file at the destination Things to remember. Whether to automatically backup: Indicates whether to automatically transfer the image file to the linked party when there is a change in the file.

The page information has the following items. Page ID: A number for uniquely identifying a page. Next page ID: Specifies the page ID of the page next to this page in order to specify the page order of the file. Image compression size: Data size when the image read from the original is compressed

Next, the extraction of the same file will be described with reference to FIG. In order to extract the same file, a candidate of the same file is found by checking whether or not the transfer source file ID is set in the file information of the own device side and the file information of the partner side. Step 6
01 receives file information and page information from the other party. First, step 603 for all files on the machine side.
Check whether there is a setting in the transfer source file ID of the file information, and check whether this file is a backup file.

If it is a backup file, the number of pages of file information is compared, and if they are the same, the image compression size of page information is compared. Since the image size after compression has different results depending on the image, it is possible to check with high accuracy whether they are the same image by comparing them. If the image compression size is the same as that of all the pages, it can be determined that the image files on the own device side focused at the start of the loop in step 602 are the same. In addition, other files are judged not to be the same file in step 609.

The same processing as above is performed for the transfer source file ID of the file information of the other party. If the transfer source file ID is set in step 612, there is a possibility of being a backup file, so step 613.
Check the number of pages with, and compare the image compression sizes in step 614, step 615, and step 616,
If they are the same, it can be determined that the transfer source file ID of the file information of the file of interest in step 611 (that is, the file on the device side) is the same file.
In other cases, it can be determined in step 618 that they are not the same file. Therefore, the files determined to be the same file in step 602 and step 617 are displayed on the operation unit as the extraction result as shown in FIG.

[0038]

As described above, the present invention has the following advantageous effects. According to the first aspect, when there is a change such as deletion or insertion of an image in the image file, it is possible to automatically take a backup, and it is possible to avoid troublesome and forgettable processing.

According to the second aspect, by setting whether or not to delete the files already accumulated in the concatenation backup destination when automatically backing up, even when only the latest backup file is required. Can respond.

According to the third aspect of the invention, therefore, comparing actual image data or compressed image data requires data transfer time, which is not practical. Generally, the compressed size of an image differs depending on the type of the image even if the compressed size is the same. You can judge the difference of image files by the compressed image size, the number of pages and the file identifier.
You can make a quick decision.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a mechanical configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus that constitutes an image forming system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an electrical configuration diagram.

FIG. 3 is an overall view of an operation unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of backup at the time of deleting a designated number of pages and when changing an image file.

FIG. 5 is a backup communication flowchart, (1) Transmission side image forming apparatus (2) Receiving side image forming apparatus The respective processing procedures of are shown below.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for specifying image storage and backup.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for extracting the same file.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of an operation unit of a different file extraction start key.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an operation unit of a difference file extraction result.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of file information and page information.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a backup mode setting screen after image storage.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of an operation unit for specifying deletion of pages.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of a page number designation operation unit for page number designation deletion.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a display example of the operation unit that displays the same file.

[Explanation of symbols]

1a CPU 1b ROM 1c RAM 1d operation part 1e Non-volatile RAM 1f image storage device 1h MSU 1j image memory 1k communication I / F (interface) 1g original reading device 1m printing device

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 12/00 531 G06F 12/00 531M 5B082 12/16 310 12/16 310M 5C062 G06T 1/00 200 G06T 1/00 200A 5C073 H04N 1/21 H04N 1/21 F Term (reference) 2C061 AP04 AP07 AQ06 AS02 CQ04 CQ24 CQ30 HJ06 HN04 HN15 HQ13 2C087 AA09 AB08 AC08 BA03 BB03 BB10 BD02 BD40 5B02 CC40 5B02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 5A02 CA08 DA03 EA10 EA18 FA02 FA13 GA08 5B082 AA13 DE03 5C062 AA05 AA14 AA35 AB38 AC21 AC23 AC41 AC42 AC55 AC58 BA04 5C073 AB11 AB17 CD05

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of image forming apparatuses having means for reading a document and means for accumulating the read images are connected so as to be capable of bidirectional communication, and different image information is read by any one image forming apparatus. In the image forming apparatus having the connecting operation means capable of transferring to the image forming apparatus, when the stored image file is changed, the setting means for transferring the image file to the connected image forming apparatus and making the setting is provided. An image forming system characterized by being provided. 2. The image forming system according to claim 1, further comprising extraction means for extracting a different or the same image file from all the stored image files of the transfer destination and the transfer source. 3. A judgment and recognition means for judging whether or not the file identifier, the number of pages, and the compressed image size of each image are the same, and if they are the same, the judgment recognizing means for recognizing the same image file is provided. The image forming system according to claim 2, wherein the image forming system is an image forming system.