JP2005096334A - Image forming apparatus and method of forming image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of giving an advantage to both of a user and an advertiser by automatically adding an adequate advertisement coincident with a desire of the user without using a high performance CPU. <P>SOLUTION: In the case where a selection keyword obtained by analyzing image data is not determined when starting the forming of an image, the forming of the image based on the image data and provisional additive image information stored beforehand is performed. Upon the keyword is determined, the forming of the image based on the image data and the additive image information correlated with the determined keyword is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method for analyzing image data and adding information that matches the content of the image.

2. Description of the Related Art A device that forms an image by adding predetermined information such as an advertisement to image data or the like, for example, a copying machine or a printer is known. Instead of adding an advertisement that is an additional image to the original image and outputting it, with an advertisement that some advertisers pay the amount to be charged according to the number of output sheets of recording paper and reduce the copy fee paid by the user An image forming system has also been proposed. (For example, Patent Document 1)
In addition, in order to automatically add an appropriate advertisement that matches the user's request, a character string is recognized based on image data output by reading a document, and a keyword is determined from the recognized character string. A copying machine that selects additional image information such as an advertisement based on a keyword and synthesizes and prints the image data and the selected additional image information is known (for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2002-86816 A JP 2002-290706 A

  However, in order to recognize a character string based on image data and determine a keyword from the recognized character string, it is necessary to analyze image data at a high level. In an image forming apparatus equipped with a general CPU, a document After the image was read, the keyword was not determined until the image formation was started, and a specific advertisement unrelated to the image data was often combined with the image data as temporary additional image information and printed. .

  In addition, in the copying machine described in Patent Document 2, if a keyword is not determined at a certain time before starting image formation, a specific advertisement is selected, and thereafter, analysis of image data is interrupted. Therefore, if the number of output sheets is large for one print instruction, a specific advertisement is added to all the recording papers and printed, and an advertisement other than the specific advertisement is added and printed. Opportunities to be played are drastically reduced, and effective advertisements have not been printed for both users and advertisers.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of providing advantages to both the user and the information provider by automatically adding appropriate image information that meets the user's request without using a high-performance CPU. The purpose is to provide.

The invention according to claim 1 is an image recognition unit that recognizes an image based on image data;
A determination unit that determines a selection keyword from the image recognized by the image recognition unit;
An additional image storage unit that stores the additional image information and the keyword in association with each other in advance;
A selection unit for selecting additional image information associated with the selection keyword determined by the determination unit from the additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit;
An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit.
The additional image storage unit stores temporary additional image information;
An image based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit after causing the image forming unit to perform image formation based on the image data and the provisional additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit. An image forming apparatus including a control unit that performs formation.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the control unit determines that image formation based on the additional image information selected by the selection unit is not possible, the image forming unit stores the image data and the additional image storage unit. Image formation based on the provisional additional image information stored in the image data, and when the selection keyword is determined by the determination unit, image formation based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit is performed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

In the invention according to claim 3, the determining unit sequentially determines the selected keyword,
The control unit causes the selection unit to select additional image information associated with the selection keyword sequentially determined by the determination unit, and causes the image forming unit to select image data and additional image information selected by the selection unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to perform image formation based on the above.

The invention according to claim 4 is an image recognition unit that recognizes an image based on image data;
A determination unit that determines a selection keyword from the image recognized by the image recognition unit;
An additional image storage unit that stores the additional image information and the keyword in association with each other in advance;
A selection unit for selecting additional image information associated with the selection keyword determined by the determination unit from the additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit;
An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit.
A feature extraction unit for extracting features of image data;
A keyword storage unit that stores the keyword and the feature of the image data in association with each other;
The determination unit is made to search for a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit from the keywords stored in the keyword storage unit,
When there is a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit in the keyword storage unit, the keyword associated with the feature of the image data is determined as a selection keyword,
When there is no keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit in the keyword storage unit, the determination unit is made to determine a selection keyword from the image recognized by the image recognition unit, and An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that stores the selected keyword determined by the determining unit in the keyword storage unit in association with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit.

In the invention according to claim 5, the image recognition unit recognizes a character string based on image data,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a keyword from a character string recognized by the image recognition unit.

The invention according to claim 6 is an image recognition process for recognizing an image based on image data;
A determination step of determining a selected keyword from the recognized image;
A selection step of selecting additional image information associated with the selected selection keyword from the additional image information stored in association with the keyword in advance;
In an image forming method including an image forming step of forming an image on a recording paper based on the image data and the selected additional image information,
An image forming method comprising: performing image formation based on the image data and additional image information selected in the selection step after performing image formation based on the image data and preliminarily stored provisional additional image information. is there.

The invention according to claim 7 is an image recognition process for recognizing an image based on image data;
A determination step of determining a selected keyword from the recognized image;
A selection step of selecting additional image information associated with the selection keyword determined in the determination step from the additional image information stored in association with the keyword in advance;
In an image forming method including an image forming step of forming an image on recording paper based on the image data and the additional image information selected in the selection step,
A feature extraction step for extracting features of the image data;
A search step of searching for a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted in the feature extraction step from keywords stored in association with the feature of the image data in advance,
In the determination step, when there is a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted in the feature extraction step in the search step, the keyword associated with the feature of the image data is determined as a selection keyword, If there is no keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted in the feature extraction step, a selection keyword is determined based on the image recognized in the image recognition step, and the selection keyword is determined in the feature extraction step. The image forming method is characterized by storing the extracted image data in association with the feature.

  According to the first and sixth aspects of the present invention, after image formation based on the provisional additional image information stored in the image data and the additional image storage unit, the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit are added. Since the image formation is based on the image data, the analysis of the image data can be completed during the printing with the specific advertisement that is the provisional additional image information, and the advertisement that is an appropriate image that meets the user's request is added. Printing, and it is possible to give advantages to both users and advertisers who are information providers. In the present invention, the analysis of image data means that an image is recognized based on the image data, a selection keyword is determined from the recognized image, and additional image information associated with the determined selection keyword is selected. To do.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the selection keyword is not determined at a certain time before the image formation is started, the provisional additional image information is added to the image data to form the image. When the analysis is performed in parallel and the selection keyword is determined, the provisional additional image information is replaced with the additional image information associated with the selection keyword, and image formation is performed. Even if a specific advertisement that is not a provisional additional image is added and printed, as the analysis of the image data proceeds in parallel with the printing, an advertisement that is appropriate additional image information that matches the user's request is added and printed It becomes possible to do.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, as image data analysis proceeds, the image formation is performed by sequentially replacing the additional image information in conjunction with the selection keyword that is sequentially determined. Even if it is printed with an advertisement that cannot be said to meet the requirements of the user, it will be possible to add and print an appropriate advertisement that matches the user's request as printing continues. It is possible to print by adding an advertisement as appropriate additional image information.

  According to the invention described in claims 4 and 7, the selection keyword is determined based on the feature of the image data that can be extracted by relatively simple processing, and the keyword associated with the feature of the extracted image data is not found. Only when the image is recognized based on the image data and the selection keyword is determined, and the determined selection keyword is stored in association with the feature of the extracted image data. When printing based on the above, it is not necessary to recognize images and characters that require complicated processing. Images can be automatically added.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, since the character string is recognized based on the image data, and the selection keyword is determined based on the recognized character string, it is possible to add appropriate information that meets the user's request. It becomes possible.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an advertising system including an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. The advertising system includes a network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and a WAN (Wide Area Network), an image forming apparatus 10 connected to the network N, a client 20 that is an information processing apparatus connected to the network N, An advertisement server 30 that is an information processing apparatus connected to the network N is included.

  The image forming apparatus 10 is a multifunctional composite image forming apparatus (MFP), and is on a recording sheet based on image data transmitted from the client 20 or image data output by reading a document with an image reading unit described later. In addition to forming additional images, the image server 30 receives additional image information that is image data indicating an advertisement and provisional additional image information that is image data indicating a specific advertisement, and is sent from the advertisement server 30 to determine the number of prints to which the advertisement is added. It has a function of recording as advertisement performance data and transmitting it to the advertisement server 30.

  The advertisement server 30 has a function of counting the advertisement result data transmitted from the image forming apparatus 10, a function of charging the advertiser with an advertisement fee according to the totaled advertisement result, and a compensation (cache) according to the totaled advertisement result And the like, and a function of distributing advertising image data to the image forming apparatus 10.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the present invention.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a control unit 101, an image reading unit 102, an image forming unit 103, an operation display unit 104, a memory 105, a storage unit 106, a timer 107, and a network control unit 108, each of which includes a system bus. 109 is connected.

  The control unit 101 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) and the like, reads a program stored in the storage unit 106 to the memory 105, and centrally controls each unit configuring the image forming apparatus 10 according to the program. That is, the control unit 101 executes various processes relating to image formation, stores the processing results in the memory 105 and displays them on the operation display unit 104. Then, the processing result stored in the memory 105 is stored in a predetermined storage area inside the storage unit 106.

The control unit 101 has the following functions.
(1) Image recognition unit Functions as an image recognition unit that recognizes an image from image data output from the client 20 or the image reading unit 102. For image recognition, a known image recognition method can be used.

  For example, in accordance with the density difference (edge) of the image, it is cut out as a rectangular area, and the image data in the rectangular area is sequentially compared with data (templates) of a plurality of reference patterns stored in the storage unit 106 in advance. It is determined what the image cut out from the most similar reference pattern is, and is output as a character string associated in advance with the most similar reference pattern. The reference pattern is, for example, image data representing the entire shape or a partial shape of the component to be recognized.

When character recognition is performed as a character recognition unit, a reference pattern is used as a character image, an image in a rectangular area where the character is recognized is extracted as a character image, converted into character code data, and converted into a character string. Output.
(2) Feature extraction unit Functions as a feature extraction unit that extracts features of image data. In the present invention, feature extraction of image data refers to simple image data that does not require the extraction of a rectangular area according to the edge of the image or the comparison of the extracted image with a reference pattern, as in the above-described image recognition. Say analysis.

The characteristics of the image data include, for example, the paper size of the original, the paper size of the recording paper, the character code content (such as “confidential” or “DRAFT”) included in a predetermined position of the image, its position and size, and image data. 1 includes a histogram of RGB data, an image data code amount, an image blackening rate, and the like, which will be described in detail later.
(3) Determination unit A determination unit that searches and determines a selection keyword for selecting advertisement image data as additional image information from the image recognized by the image recognition unit or the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit. Function as.

  For example, the character string output by the image recognition unit is compared with a plurality of keywords stored in advance in the storage unit 106, and the selected keyword is determined from the output character string. The keyword is not a single character but a character string made up of a plurality of characters such as “camera” and “conference”. If multiple keywords appear as candidates, whether they appear frequently, whether the image size is large, whether the color of the image is different from other images, or modifications such as bold or italic are added Based on the above, the user's intention, that is, whether or not the user is using it as an important character string or image is examined, and the selection keyword is determined.

For the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit, an image that matches the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit from the keywords stored in advance in the storage unit 106 that functions as the keyword storage unit The keyword associated with the data feature is determined as the selected keyword.
(4) Selection unit Functions as a selection unit that selects advertisement image data associated with the selection keyword determined by the determination unit from the advertisement image data stored in advance in the storage unit 106 that functions as an additional image storage unit. .

  Note that image recognition, selection keyword determination, and selection of advertisement image data in the control unit 101 are image data to be printed that are executed in the image forming apparatus 10 and executed by a single instruction from the client 20 or the user. Generally, the image data is divided into a plurality of pages, for example, for each page, and image recognition and keyword determination are sequentially performed on the divided image data during printing. As a result, the time required to select the advertisement image data can be shortened, and the advertisement image data can be replaced sequentially for each of the divided image data. It becomes possible to do.

  The image reading unit 102 constitutes a so-called scanner by an exposure unit, a mirror unit, an imaging lens, a CCD image sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as a CCD), and a drive source thereof, and provides a function of reading a document image. The read document image is converted into digital data to be image data, which is written in a specific area of the memory 105. Further, the image reading unit 102 includes a document feeding device as necessary, and conveys a plurality of documents to be read to the scanner. Here, the image data includes not only image data such as graphics and photographs but also text data such as characters and symbols.

  The image forming unit 103 includes an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method, and provides a function of printing an image based on image data written in a specific memory area on a recording sheet. A finisher is provided as necessary, and sorting, stapling, punching, folding, and the like of a plurality of recording sheets that have been printed are performed.

  The operation display unit 104 is a pressure sensitive (resistance film pressure type) touch panel in which display elements such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and EL (Electro Luminescence) and transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid, a numeric keypad for setting the number of copies, It is composed of various operation keys such as a start key for instructing start of operation, a stop key for instructing stop of operation, and a function key for switching various settings, and accepts an operation such as a service request from the user, or the image forming apparatus 10. Displays the operating status of the.

  The memory 105 is composed of a RAM (Random Access Memory) or the like, and temporarily stores programs, inputs, or output data and parameters read from the storage unit 106 in various processes executed and controlled by the control unit 101. A large storage area. For example, when the image data is transferred between the units, it functions as a page memory, a band buffer memory, and a block memory, and a specific area is allocated to each unit.

The storage unit 106 includes a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and stores setting contents according to various programs and functions that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 10. The storage unit 106 stores the following content, for example.
(1) Advertisement image data, which is additional image information associated with a keyword, transmitted from the advertisement server 30.
(2) Specific advertisement image data that is provisional additional image information transmitted from the advertisement server 30.
(3) A keyword written by the control unit 101 and associated with the feature of the image data.
(4) Advertising image data associated with supplemental information.
(5) Reference pattern image data used in the image recognition unit.
(6) Advertising performance data.

  Here, the supplementary information is information not related to the keyword. Specifically, the supplemental information is information extracted by the control unit 101 and includes the installation position of the image forming apparatus 10, the operating conditions set in the image forming apparatus 10, the current time, and the like. .

  That is, the storage unit 106 also has functions as an additional image storage unit, a keyword storage unit, a reference pattern storage unit, and an advertisement performance data storage unit.

  The timer 107 includes an oscillator, a clock counter, and the like, measures the processing time of the control unit 101, and returns to an initial setting value (usually 0) by a reset operation.

  The network control unit 108 is connected to a network such as a LAN, and provides a transmission / reception function of advertisement performance data, image data, and control data with the client 20, the advertisement server 30 and the like connected to the LAN. Using the protocol, you can receive or specify image data files containing advertisement image data described in print data such as PDL and JPEG / TIFF / GIF formats sent from the client 20 and the advertisement server 30 The image data written in the memory area is filed in a predetermined format and transmitted to the client 20.

  Next, an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing image forming processing (hereinafter referred to as printing) executed by the control unit 101.

  In step S <b> 101, it is determined whether or not the advertisement addition mode has been selected for printing performed by the image forming apparatus 10.

  Here, the image forming apparatus 10 includes a normal mode for executing normal printing without adding an advertisement, and an advertisement addition mode for executing printing for adding an advertisement.

  Generally, the user allows an advertisement to be added when the print price is low. However, depending on the user, for example, a user who copies an official document may not want to add an advertisement. Therefore, the image forming apparatus 10 has a selection unit for the user to select the normal mode or the advertisement addition mode. This selection means includes buttons provided on the operation display unit 104. Alternatively, the user may be inquired about the necessity of adding an advertisement each time the start key is pressed. Further, depending on the installation location of the image forming apparatus 10, it may be possible to forcibly add information as information. In such a case, a restriction that the normal mode cannot be selected may be added.

  If it is determined that the advertisement addition mode is selected (step S101; YES), the process of step S102 is executed. If it is determined that the normal mode is selected (step S101; NO), the process of step S105 is executed. .

  In step S102, a print for adding an advertisement (advertisement-added print) is executed.

  In step S103, processing for recording advertisement performance data is executed. Specifically, the type of printed advertisement image data, the number of prints, the image size, the print execution date and time, etc. in the advertisement-added print executed in step S102 are stored in the storage unit 106 as advertisement performance data. At this time, the storage unit 106 functions as an advertisement performance data storage unit. Note that the advertisement performance data stored in the storage unit 106 is aggregated at an appropriate timing and transmitted to the advertisement server 30 via the network.

  In step S <b> 104, a billing process for the print price for the user using the image forming apparatus 10 is performed. The print charge imposed on the user is changed according to the selected mode. When the advertisement addition mode is selected, the print charge per sheet is set at a low price. The reduced copy price is equivalent to the advertisement fee, and is charged to the advertiser based on the advertisement performance data. After the process of step S104 is executed, the process ends.

  In step S105, normal printing without adding an advertisement is executed, and the process of step S104 is executed.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of the print to which the advertisement in step S102 in FIG. 3 is added.

  In step S201, time measurement by the timer 107 is started.

  In step S202, the feature extraction unit extracts the features of the image data (feature extraction step).

  In step S203, it is determined whether or not a feature that matches the feature of the image data extracted in step S202 is among the features of the image data stored in advance in the storage unit 106 (search step). If it is determined that there is a match (step S203; YES), after the keyword associated with the matched feature is determined as the selection keyword (step S213), the process of step S207 is executed. If it is determined that there is no match, that is, if there is no keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit in the keyword storage unit (step S203; NO), the process of step S204 is executed. The

  In step S204, the character string included in the image is recognized by the image recognition unit (image recognition step).

  In step S205, the determination unit searches for the selected keyword and determines it (determination step).

  In step S206, it is determined whether or not the selection keyword has been determined by the determination unit within a predetermined time after the measurement by the timer 107 is started. The image recognition process in step S204 and the determination process in step S205 require advanced processing, and an image forming apparatus equipped with a general CPU may not complete processing until printing starts. Therefore, if the process is not completed within a predetermined time after the measurement by the timer 107 is started, a specific advertisement image is provisionally added and printed.

  The predetermined time is set by calculating backward from the timing at which printing based on the image data to which the advertisement image data selected by the selection unit is added when printing by the image forming unit 103 is started. When the keyword can be determined (S206; YES), the process of step S207 is executed, and when the selected keyword cannot be determined, that is, when printing by the image forming unit 103 is started, the advertisement image selected by the selection unit When printing based on the data is not possible (S206; NO), the specific advertisement image data as the provisional image information is selected and output to the image forming unit 103 (step S214), and then the process of step S208 is executed.

  In step S207, the selection unit selects the advertisement image data from the storage unit 106 based on the selected keyword determined in step S105 or step S213, and the selected advertisement image data is output to the image forming unit 103. As a method for selecting the advertisement image data based on the selected keyword or based on the selected keyword and the supplemental information, a general method is used in a database system or the like.

  In step S208, the image forming unit 103 performs printing based on the image data and the advertisement image data selected in step S207 or the specific advertisement image data selected in step S214.

  In step S209, it is determined whether printing in the image forming unit 103 is completed. If it is determined that printing has been completed (step S209; YES), the process of step S210 is executed. If it is determined that printing has not been completed (step S209; NO), the next recording paper or the next recording is performed. In order to select an advertisement image to be formed on the paper group, the timer 107 is reset (step S215), and the process returns to step S204. By doing this, if the selection keyword is determined while printing continues, the specific advertisement image that has been provisionally added can be replaced with the advertisement image and subsequent printing can be performed. Even if a specific advertisement image that cannot be said to sufficiently meet the user's request is added and printed at the beginning, an appropriate advertisement image that matches the user's request can be added and printed as printing progresses. It becomes possible, and it becomes possible to give a big advantage to both a user and an advertiser.

  In step S210, it is determined whether or not the selection keyword of the image data that has been printed has been determined. Even if the image forming process is completed before the selection keyword is determined, the selection keyword is determined and prepared for printing in the advertisement addition mode based on similar image data from the next time. If it is determined that the selected keyword is determined (step S210; YES), the process of step S212 is executed. If it is determined that the selected keyword is not determined (step S210; NO), the process of step S211 is executed. The

  In step S211, the character string included in the image is recognized by the image recognition unit, and the selection keyword is determined by the determination unit.

  In step S212, the selected keyword determined in step S205 or step S211 is stored in the keyword storage unit together with the characteristics of the image data extracted in step S202. In this way, when printing in the advertisement addition mode based on the same image data from the next time onward, the selection keyword can be determined simply by extracting the characteristics of the image data. Compared to the case of recognizing a column or image and determining a selected keyword from the recognized character string or image, the processing time can be significantly shortened, and a print with an advertisement image that matches the user's request is added from the first page Is possible.

  Details of the features of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit in step S202 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of the image S printed based on the image data, and FIG. 5B is associated with the characteristics of the image data stored in the storage unit 107 which is a keyword storage unit. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of another keyword.

  In FIG. 5, as the characteristics of the image data, the paper size, the image blackening rate, and the image data code amount are stored in the storage unit 107 in association with the keyword.

  The paper size is the size of the original detected by the original size detection sensor provided in the image reading unit 102 of the image forming apparatus 10 or the paper size set by the client 20, and is “A4”, “A3”, “ Standard size names such as “B5”, “B4”, “Legal”, and “Letter”, and in the case of an indefinite type, the lengths of the long side and the short side such as “XX mm × XX mm” are extracted. .

  The blackening ratio of the image is the ratio of the area where the color material such as toner or ink adheres when the area of the entire screen is 100%. In the present embodiment, the blackening ratio is determined by simulation based on image data. The image is extracted in page units or paper units, the blackening rate of the entire image and the image S are divided into four regions A, B, C, and D, and the blackening rate in each region is determined as the blackening rate A. , Blackening rate B, blackening rate C, and blackening rate D.

  The code amount of the image data is the amount of data when the image data is encoded by a known method such as the MMR encoding method or the JPEG method, and is extracted for each page or paper unit of the image, The amount and the image S are divided into four regions A, B, C, and D, and the code amount in each region is extracted as a code amount A, a code amount B, a code amount C, and a code amount D. The code amount is indicated by, for example, kbytes (kilobytes).

  Further, details of step S203 (search step) will be described with reference to FIG. Pre-stored paper size, image blackening rate (all areas, A, B, C, D areas) and image data code amount (all areas, A, B, C, D areas) are newly printed Are compared with the paper size of the image data, the blackening rate of the image (all areas, A, B, C, and D areas) and the image data code amount (all areas, A, B, C, and D areas), respectively. For example, it is determined whether it is approximated as a whole or only a part of the change. Also, regarding the blackening rate and code amount divided into four regions, not only the same region for each region but also the case where the top and bottom of the image data is reversed, regions that are 180 degrees out of phase (for example, A And D and B and C) are also compared.

  The keyword is a character string representing the selected keyword determined by the determination unit when the image data has been previously analyzed. If a plurality of selection keywords are sequentially determined when image data is analyzed, a plurality of keywords such as “keyword 1” and “keyword 2” may be stored.

  The place where the advertisement image is added in the printing in step S208 of FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, when an image S having no margin is printed as a document, if double-sided printing is possible, the print P of the image S is one sheet as shown in FIG. 6B. The image S is printed on the front surface of the recording paper, and the advertisement image 41 is printed on the back surface. If double-sided printing is not possible, as shown in FIG. 6C, the advertisement image 41 is printed in the margin created forcibly as the print P of the image S. In addition, when a margin is originally present in the lower part of the image S, an advertisement image is printed in the margin.

  When printing a plurality (N-1) pages of a plurality of (n-1) pages, as shown in FIG. 6D, an advertisement image is displayed only on the first page or a specific page (for example, the nth page as a margin). 41 is printed. By doing so, it is possible to print with a modest advertisement image added so as not to obstruct the user, and it is possible to print with an appropriate advertisement image meeting the user's request. In addition, the load on the CPU for recognizing the character string or image based on the image data being printed and determining the selection keyword from the recognized character string or image is reduced without using a high-performance CPU. Appropriate image information matching the user's request can be added. In other words, the specific advertisement image 42 is added to the first copy of the first page, the advertisement image 41 is added to the first n page, and the Nth first page is printed. A print in which another advertisement image 41b is added to the print is possible without using a high-performance CPU.

  Note that the position where the advertisement image is printed is not limited to the existing margin of the recording paper, the back side of the paper, and the margin created forcibly. For example, the advertisement can be printed on a recording paper different from the recording paper on which the image data is printed.

  The description in the above embodiment is a preferred example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  For example, when selecting advertisement image data based on supplementary information including the installation position of the image forming apparatus 10, the set operation condition or the current time, the following processing is performed instead of steps S 202 to S 207 of FIG. Is done.

  The control unit 101 extracts, as supplementary information, the position where the image forming apparatus 10 is installed, the operating conditions set in the image forming apparatus 10, the current time, and the like. The position where the image forming apparatus 10 is installed is, for example, a convenience store, a school, a station, a library, a national or local government facility, or the like. The data regarding the installation position is set when the image forming apparatus 10 is installed, and is stored in the storage unit 106. The control unit 101 calls data related to the installation position from the storage unit 106. The operating conditions are set by the user operating the display operation unit 104 or operating the client 20, and include, for example, a color copy mode and a monochrome copy mode. Data relating to the operating conditions is extracted by the control unit 101 when printing is started. Then, the control unit 101 selects advertisement image data based on the extracted supplementary information.

  In this way, it is possible to select an advertisement for a service that can be used at the current time, or to print a color advertisement image when the color copy mode is set. Therefore, it is possible to select an advertisement that further matches the user's request.

  Further, when a document with an advertisement image already added is copied again, if an advertisement image is further added, only the advertisement image is conspicuous and the copy becomes unsightly. Therefore, in step S208, it is possible to prevent the print image from becoming unsightly by performing processing for adding the selected advertisement image data in a form that replaces the already added advertisement image, and the user obtains the latest advertisement. I can do it. Specifically, the control unit 101 determines whether or not an identification code including a code number or a bar code indicating an advertisement is already included in the image data, and the identification code is included. The image data corresponding to the advertisement already included is replaced with the selected advertisement image data, and printing is performed.

  In this embodiment, the multifunctional composite image forming apparatus is described as an example of the image forming apparatus. However, the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer information providing terminal (for example, a kiosk terminal) is also described. Applicable.

  Further, the object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is stored in the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program.

  In addition, the detailed configuration and detailed operation of each component constituting the image forming apparatus can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is a schematic view of an advertising system including an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the image formation process performed by the control part. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the image formation process which adds the advertisement in FIG. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram of the image S printed based on the image data, and FIG. 5B is a diagram of the keyword associated with the feature of the image data stored in the storage unit that is the keyword storage unit. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example. FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a document, and FIGS. 6B to 6D are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of printing in a case where the user selects an image forming process to add an advertisement.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 101 Control part 102 Image reading part 103 Image forming part 104 Operation display part 105 Memory 106 Storage part 107 Timer 108 Network control part 109 System bus 20 Client 30 Advertising server N Network S Image P Print

Claims (7)

An image recognition unit for recognizing an image based on image data;
A determination unit that determines a selection keyword from the image recognized by the image recognition unit;
An additional image storage unit that stores the additional image information and the keyword in association with each other in advance;
A selection unit for selecting additional image information associated with the selection keyword determined by the determination unit from the additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit;
An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit.
The additional image storage unit stores temporary additional image information;
An image based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit after causing the image forming unit to perform image formation based on the image data and the provisional additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that performs formation. When the control unit determines that image formation based on the additional image information selected by the selection unit is not possible, the image forming unit stores the image data and provisional additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit. 2. An image formation based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit is performed at the time when the selection keyword is determined by the determination unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1. The determination unit sequentially determines a selection keyword,
The control unit causes the selection unit to select additional image information associated with the selection keyword sequentially determined by the determination unit, and causes the image forming unit to select image data and additional image information selected by the selection unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to perform image formation based on the above. An image recognition unit for recognizing an image based on image data;
A determination unit that determines a selection keyword from the image recognized by the image recognition unit;
An additional image storage unit that stores the additional image information and the keyword in association with each other in advance;
A selection unit for selecting additional image information associated with the selection keyword determined by the determination unit from the additional image information stored in the additional image storage unit;
An image forming apparatus including an image forming unit that forms an image on a recording sheet based on the image data and the additional image information selected by the selection unit.
A feature extraction unit for extracting features of image data;
A keyword storage unit that stores the keyword and the feature of the image data in association with each other;
The determination unit is made to search for a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit from the keywords stored in the keyword storage unit,
When there is a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit in the keyword storage unit, the keyword associated with the feature of the image data is determined as a selection keyword,
When there is no keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit in the keyword storage unit, the determination unit is made to determine a selection keyword from the image recognized by the image recognition unit, and An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit that stores the selected keyword determined by the determination unit in the keyword storage unit in association with the feature of the image data extracted by the feature extraction unit. The image recognition unit recognizes a character string based on image data,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines a keyword from a character string recognized by the image recognition unit. An image recognition process for recognizing an image based on image data;
A determination step of determining a selected keyword from the recognized image;
A selection step of selecting additional image information associated with the selected selection keyword from the additional image information stored in association with the keyword in advance;
In an image forming method including an image forming step of forming an image on a recording paper based on the image data and the selected additional image information,
An image forming method comprising: performing image formation based on the image data and additional image information selected in the selection step after performing image formation based on the image data and preliminarily stored provisional additional image information. An image recognition process for recognizing an image based on image data;
A determination step of determining a selected keyword from the recognized image;
A selection step of selecting additional image information associated with the selection keyword determined in the determination step from the additional image information stored in association with the keyword in advance;
In an image forming method including an image forming step of forming an image on recording paper based on the image data and the additional image information selected in the selection step,
A feature extraction step for extracting features of the image data;
A search step of searching for a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted in the feature extraction step from keywords stored in association with the feature of the image data in advance,
In the determination step, when there is a keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted in the feature extraction step in the search step, the keyword associated with the feature of the image data is determined as a selection keyword, If there is no keyword associated with the feature of the image data extracted in the feature extraction step, a selection keyword is determined based on the image recognized in the image recognition step, and the selection keyword is determined in the feature extraction step. An image forming method, characterized by storing the image data in association with the extracted image data.

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