JP2004248326A - Image data processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a dirty image from being reproduced and to also prevent a memory from being wasted when a blank original paper is set on a copy machine. <P>SOLUTION: On the basis of image data information for each original page, it is discriminated whether or not the original is a blank original paper without image data and when it is judged that the original has ordinary image data, read image data are recorded in the memory for copying but when the original is judged as a blank original paper, recording and copying of the image data of a relevant blank original page are stopped. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a process of recording image data in a memory or copying by output in a copying machine or the like, and relates to a technique for improving efficiency, improving image quality of a reproduced image, and the like.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent copiers, image data of a document is photoelectrically converted, read as digital data, subjected to processing such as compression, temporarily stored in a memory, and then decompressed and output for copying. (See Patent Document 1).
JP-A-5-91345

The processing of image data by such a digital copying machine has conventionally had various problems as described below.
As a problem in continuous copying in the automatic document feed mode, in the automatic document feed mode, in a mode in which image data of one side of a plurality of documents is sequentially copied one side at a time on both sides of a copy sheet, the data is sequentially stored in the memory as it is. If the number of originals is odd when recording and copying in the order of recording, the back side of the copy surface of the copy paper of the first page becomes blank, and the appearance is often poor. Therefore, conventionally, an original is automatically fed or only for counting the number of originals before recording in a memory, or the number of originals is forcibly set to an odd number and the back side of the copy surface of the first page is blank. However, the former involves a time loss due to automatic document feeding for counting and increases the possibility of jams, while the latter has a problem that operability is significantly reduced. there were.

  In addition, as a problem when the original is a blank original without image data, conventionally, even when a blank original is set, image data is assumed to be present, and the same compression processing is performed and recording is performed. Unnecessary data such as the density of data is compressed and copied as dirt. In addition, although unnecessary compressed data is recorded in the memory even though it is small, there is a problem that the capacity is wasted. Was.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image data processing apparatus that can address various problems in image data processing as described above.

  For this purpose, an automatic document feeder is provided, the image data of the document fed automatically is read and recorded in a memory, and then the image data recorded in the memory is output to perform the copying. The mode includes a mode in which the image data of one page of one side of each document is sequentially recorded in the memory, the image data of all the documents are recorded, and then, in order of recording, the image data is sequentially copied on both sides of the copy sheet one by one. The invention which copes with the problem in the mode in the copying machine is provided with various means shown in FIG.

The present invention, which addresses the problem when a blank document is set, includes the respective units shown in FIG.
Blank document discriminating means discriminates whether or not the document is a blank document, and reproducing operation stopping means stops copying and reproducing of the blank document when the blank document discriminating means determines that the document is a blank document. It is.

  According to this configuration, when a blank document is set, the reproduction operation of the blank document is stopped, so that a dirty image is not reproduced and wasteful consumption of memory is prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an image recording apparatus (copier) including the image data processing apparatus according to the present invention.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a copying machine main body; 2, an image data reading unit that reads image data of a set original; 3, an image data processing unit that performs processing such as compression of the read image data; A memory 5 for temporarily recording the image data, an exposure scanning unit 5 for exposing and scanning the photosensitive drum 31 with a laser beam modulated by the image data output from the memory by extending the memory, thereby forming an electrostatic latent image; Reference numeral 6 denotes a developing unit that supplies a developer from a developing unit to attach toner to the electrostatic latent image to perform development, 7 denotes a copy paper supply unit that supplies copy paper to the photosensitive drum 31, and 8 denotes a photosensitive member. A copy paper transport unit that transports the copy paper on which the image data has been transferred from the drum 31, a fixing unit 9 that heats the transported copy paper to fix the image data, and 10 has only one side when performing duplex copying. Copy the paper that has finished copying A reversing / discharging switching unit for switching the reversing / discharging operation so as to discharge the copy paper after copying is completed, and conveys the reversal copy paper to the photosensitive drum 31 side. Reference numeral 12 denotes a double-sided recording paper transport unit (ADU), and 13 denotes an automatic document transport unit (ADF).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the automatic document feeder 13, which is an automatic document feeder, is installed on the copying machine main body 1, and includes a document placement unit 14 for loading a document bundle and one sheet from the document bundle. A paper feed unit 15 for separating and feeding the original D, an intermediate transport unit 17 and a transport unit 18 for transporting the original D fed from the paper feed unit 15 to a predetermined reading position on a platen glass 16, After the end, the document D sent from the conveyance means 18 is discharged to a paper discharge tray, and the document whose first surface has been read is reversed in the double-sided document copy mode, and is again fed onto the platen glass 16. And a unit 19.

Next, an embodiment in which the copy condition is changed while detecting the remaining amount of the memory will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present embodiment. Such processing is performed by the image data processing unit 3 (the same applies to other embodiments).
In FIG. 5 showing the main flow, in step 51, image data of an automatically fed original is read one page at a time, and after compression processing at a predetermined compression level is recorded in the memory 4.

In step 52, the remaining capacity of the memory 4 is detected. This is obtained by subtracting the consumed capacity corresponding to the integrated amount of the compressed image data from the maximum capacity of the memory 4 when not in use. For simplicity, it may be obtained from the address of the memory 4 where the last recorded data is recorded.
In step 53, it is determined whether the remaining amount obtained in step 52 is equal to or less than a specified value.

If it does not reach the prescribed value or less, the flow returns to step 51 to feed the next page of the original and repeat the same operation.
If it is determined in step 53 that the remaining amount is equal to or smaller than the specified value, the process proceeds to step 54 to change the copy condition.
FIG. 6 shows an example of the copy condition changing process.

In step 61, a warning is displayed to prompt the user to select whether or not to continue copying with the current compression level set in a state where the reading operation has been stopped.
In step 62, it is determined whether or not the selection is to continue setting.
Then, if it is determined that the setting is to be continued, the process proceeds to step 63 to read the image data of the document of the next page with the current setting and record it in the memory. Continue stopping operation. During this time, the user is recorded in the memory 4. The image data is expanded and output and a desired number of pages are copied. As a result, the remaining amount of the memory 4 is increased, and the image data of the document of the next page and thereafter can be recorded in the memory 4. Note that the remaining amount of the memory 4 after the copying is detected again and compared with the specified remaining amount. If the remaining amount exceeds the specified remaining amount, the warning is released, and the copying is continued until the warning is released. A configuration may be adopted in which a document of the next page is fed and image data is recorded.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart in which a copying operation and a data recording operation are automatically performed based on the remaining amount of memory as another example of changing the copying condition.
In step 71, the recording data is decompressed and output from the memory 4 to start the copying operation. In step 72, it is determined whether or not the copy recorded in the memory 4 has been output and the copying has been completed. Then, the document of the next page and subsequent pages is fed and data is recorded.

According to this configuration, while monitoring the remaining amount of the limited memory capacity, the decompressed copy is appropriately performed to increase the remaining amount, and then the data recording is restarted. Although this embodiment is inferior to the above embodiment, the image quality can be improved by lowering the compression ratio.
Next, in the automatic original feeding mode, a mode in which image data of only one side of each original is recorded at once for all originals, and then one page of original is continuously copied on each side of the copy paper (single-sided original). An embodiment for shortening the copying time in the double-sided copying mode will be described.

  In this apparatus, the image data of the document is recorded in a page unit in the memory. In this case, for example, the recording surface for copying the document stacked in the page order is set to face downward, and The image data is sequentially read from the top document, read, and the image data is sequentially recorded in the memory for each page. After reading and recording the image data of all the documents, the image data is sequentially copied in the recorded order. It has become.

  However, when the number of documents is an odd number, for example, three pages, the last page and the second page of the document are copied on both sides of the copy paper, and the first page is copied on one side of the copy paper. Is left as a blank sheet. When the number of originals is even, there is no problem because both sides of all copy sheets are copied. Therefore, an embodiment in which a recording control process corresponding to such a copying method is performed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In step 81, the recording area for the first page of the original in the memory 4 is assigned as a blank page on which no data is recorded. In step 82, the image data of one page is sequentially recorded on the automatically fed original after the blank page, and the number of pages is counted. In step 83, it is determined whether or not the number of pages of the document is an odd number when the feeding of the document is completed.
If it is determined in step 83 that the number of original pages is an odd number, the flow advances to step 84 to sequentially output the blank page area of the memory 4 and start the copying operation. Then, since there is no data for the blank page, the sheet is reversed without being copied on one side of the copy sheet, and the image data of the last page of the document is copied from the opposite side, and actual copying starts. Thereafter, the image data is sequentially copied one page at a time on both the front and back sides of the copy sheet from the end side to the top page side.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 83 that the number of original pages is even, the flow advances to step 85 to cancel the output of the blank page, and the next page, that is, the last page, is copied one page at a time on both sides of the copy sheet. You. In this way, even when the number of original pages is odd, it is possible to prevent double-sided copying from the first page to the copy sheet, the last page being single-sided, and the first page being single-sided.
Further, in order to perform such normal double-sided copying, a feeding operation of counting the number of originals before reading image data is not required, so that it is possible to prevent a loss of time and an increase in the possibility of occurrence of jams. It is possible to prevent the operability from being lowered as in the case where the number is forcibly set as an odd number. In this embodiment, the original page is read from the last page and applied to the method of copying from the last page. However, when applied to the method of reading from the first page and copying from the first page, all pages are read. When the image data of the original is read, the number of pages of the original is determined to be odd or even. If the number is odd, a blank page area may be added after the image data recording area of the last page of the memory.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention that deals with the case where a blank document is set will be described. When a blank document is set, the same reading as that of a document having normal image data is performed, compressed and recorded in the memory, and decompressed from the memory and copied. In such a case, the compression / decompression processing is performed by reading the density of the paper surface itself, even though it is a blank sheet, so that unnecessary stains may be discharged in a copied state due to processing such as error diffusion. In addition, although the amount of image data is small, a certain amount of memory capacity is wasted, and in particular, when multi-value processing is performed as a measure for improving image quality in the future, it is expected that the consumption loss will increase more and more. You.

Therefore, in the present invention, when a blank document is set, it is detected that the document is a blank document, the copying of the image data is stopped, and the page is skipped or copied, or the copying is performed in a completely blank state. The paper is discharged. Note that, instead of copying, it may be reproduced and displayed on a monitor or the like. The former method will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In step 91, information for determining the presence or absence of image data for each page of the document is input. For example, in the case where a density sensor for automatic density adjustment is provided, this may be density information from the density sensor, or information obtained by processing read image data (e.g., density distribution Information).

In step 92, it is determined based on the information obtained in step 91 whether the original is a blank original having no image data.
If it is determined that the document is a document having normal image data, the process proceeds to steps 93 and 94, where the read image data is recorded in the memory and copied, but if it is determined that the document is a blank document, Then, the process proceeds to steps 95 and 96, and the recording and copying of the image data of the blank original page to the memory are stopped.

  An embodiment of a method of discharging a copy sheet in a completely blank state with respect to a blank document will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 10. Steps 101 to 104 are the same as steps 91 to 94, and a description thereof will be omitted. . If it is determined in step 102 that the document is a blank document, only the page number is recorded in the memory 4 in step 105, only the page number is copied in step 106, and the other portions are copied in a completely blank state. Discharge paper.

In this way, it is possible to prevent the dirty copy paper from being discharged without wasting the memory capacity.
As described above, according to the present invention, when a blank document is set, the reproduction operation of the blank document is stopped, so that reproduction (copying) of a dirty image is not performed, and Useless consumption of is also prevented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment corresponding to a single-sided image → double-sided copy mode. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of hardware common to each embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration for switching copying conditions. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing for switching copy conditions. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a subroutine of the flowchart. 9 is a flowchart showing another example of the subroutine of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment for reducing a copying time. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of reference numerals

2 Image data reading unit 3 Image data processing unit 4 Memory
13 Automatic Document Feeder

Claims (5)

In an image data processing apparatus including a function of reading image data of a document, recording the image data in a memory, and then outputting the image data recorded in the memory to reproduce an image,
Blank document determining means for determining whether the document is a blank document,
When the blank document discriminating unit determines that the document is a blank document, a reproducing operation stopping unit that stops the reproducing operation of the blank document,
An image data processing device comprising:   2. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the document is determined to be the blank document, the reproducing operation of the blank document is skipped to reproduce the next page.   2. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the document is a blank document, only the page number of the blank document is reproduced.   4. The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproduction operation is a copy.   The image data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the reproduction operation is a display on a monitor.

Images