JP2005229266A - Image processor and processing system, image forming method and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing system for realizing image formation while suppressing degradation of image quality by applying a semiconductor chip capable of noncontact reading of stored data. <P>SOLUTION: A copy unit 1 stores a document image in association with an identifier for specifying that document image and attaches an IC chip 3 storing that identifier to a document sheet 40. When copy of the document sheet 40 is directed, the copy unit 1 reads out the identifier of the document image from the IC chip 3 attached to the document sheet and then reads out and prints the data of a document image corresponding to that identifier. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing system and method for processing an image read from a document using a non-contact memory attached to the document.

For example, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a small semiconductor chip (“mu chip”) that can read stored data from the outside without contact.
Patent Documents 1 to 6 disclose application examples of the above-described semiconductor chip.
MYCOM PC WEB, NEWS HEADLINE, July 5, 2002, <URL: http://pcweb.mycom.co.jp/news/2001/07/05/22.html> JP 2001-229199 A JP 2000-285203 A JP 2001-134672 A JP 2001-283011 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-148000 JP 2001-260580 A

  The present invention has been made from the background described above, and provides an image processing system that realizes image formation with reduced image quality degradation by applying a semiconductor chip that can read stored data in a non-contact manner. With the goal.

[Image processing device]
In order to achieve the above object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus that provides image data to be formed to an image forming apparatus, and includes information identification data from a data storage device attached to a document. A data reading unit that reads information, an information acquisition unit that acquires information corresponding to the identification data read by the data reading unit, and an output unit that outputs the information acquired by the information acquisition unit to the image forming apparatus. Have.

Preferably, an image reading unit for reading an image displayed on the document, and when the data storage device is attached to the document, the information acquired by the information acquisition unit is output, and the data storage device is output to the document. Control means for controlling the output means to output image data read by the image reading means when the image reading means is not attached, the output means according to the control of the control means, The information acquired by the information acquisition unit or the image data read by the image reading unit is output to the image forming apparatus.
Preferably, the data storage device attached to the document stores identification data of the document image displayed on the document, and the information acquisition unit corresponds to the identification data read by the data reading unit. The document image data to be acquired is acquired, and the output unit outputs the document image data acquired by the information acquisition unit to the image forming apparatus.

  An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus that provides image data to be formed to an image forming apparatus, and includes image reading means for reading an image displayed on a document, and data attached to the document. Data reading means for reading information data from the storage device, image data read by the image reading means, or output means for outputting information data read by the data reading means to the image forming apparatus, Control means for controlling the output means so as to output data of information read by the data reading means when a data storage device is attached to the document.

  Preferably, the information processing apparatus further includes display means for displaying information to be provided to the user, and the control means is an image of the original read by the image reading means when the data storage device is not attached to the original. When the data storage device is attached to the document, the display means displays the identification data read from the data storage device or that the image is formed based on the identification data. To control.

[Image processing system]
An image processing system according to the present invention is an image processing system having an image display member on which an image is displayed and an image forming apparatus, wherein the image display member stores data identification data. The image forming apparatus includes: an image reading unit that reads an image displayed on the image display member; a data reading unit that reads identification data of information from a data storage device attached to the image display member; Based on information acquisition means for acquiring information corresponding to identification data read by the data reading means, image data read by the image reading means, or information acquired by the information acquisition means Acquired by the information acquisition means when an image forming means for forming an image on the image display member and a data storage device are attached to the image display member And a control means for controlling said image forming means to form a multi-address on the recording medium.

[Image forming method]
An image forming method according to the present invention is an image forming method for forming an image using a data storage device attached to an image display member, and specifies information displayed on the image display member and the information. When the identification data of the information displayed on the image display member is stored in the data storage device attached to the image display member, the identification data from the data storage device is stored. Is read, information corresponding to the read identification data is read, and the read information is formed on the recording medium.

  Preferably, when information corresponding to the identification data is read, the fact that the information has been read is written in the data storage device.

[program]
The program according to the present invention includes a step of reading identification data of information from a data storage device in an image processing apparatus including a computer, when the document has a data storage device, and the read identification data A step of acquiring corresponding information from a database in which identification data and information are stored in association with each other; and a step of outputting the information acquired based on the identification data when a data storage device is attached to the document. Are executed by the image processing apparatus.

  According to the image processing system of the present invention, it is possible to suppress deterioration in image quality due to repeated copying.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of an image processing system according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system includes a copy apparatus 1, a network 7, and a file server 9. The copy apparatus 1 and the file server 9 are connected to each other via a network 7 such as a LAN or the Internet.
In the image processing system, a document sheet 40 (image display member) to which the IC chip 3 is attached is used. The IC chip 3 (data storage device) is a semiconductor that can read data in a non-contact manner using radio waves. An original image is displayed on the original paper 40, and an identifier for identifying the original image is stored in the IC chip 3 attached to the original paper 40.

The file server 9 stores each document image data in association with an identifier, and provides document image data in response to a request from the copying apparatus 1.
The copy apparatus 1 (image processing apparatus) prints an image on a recording sheet using at least one of an original image read from the original paper 40 and an identifier read from the IC chip 3. More specifically, when the copying apparatus 1 reads the identifier from the IC chip 3, it requests the image data corresponding to the identifier from the file server 9, and uses the document image data received from the file server 9 to copy the document image. On the recording paper.

Further, the scanner device 6 (image processing device) connected to the network 7 reads the identifier from the IC chip 3 attached to the document paper 40, and sends the document image data corresponding to the read identifier from the file server 9. The acquired document image data may be processed.
In the present embodiment, the copy apparatus 1 will be described as a specific example of the image processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the copy apparatus 1 with the control apparatus 2 at the center.
As shown in FIG. 2, the copy apparatus 1 includes a control apparatus 2 and a copy apparatus main body 10.
The control device 2 includes a control device body 20 including a CPU 202 and a memory 204, a communication device 22, a recording device 24 such as an HDD / CD device, a user interface device (UI) including an LCD display device, a CRT display device, and a keyboard / touch panel. Device) 26 and an IC chip interface (IC chip IF) 28 having an antenna 280.
The copy apparatus main body 10 includes a paper tray unit, a print engine that prints an image using xerography, a scanner that reads an image on the original paper 40, and an original feeder that sends the original paper 40 to an image reading position.
In the copying apparatus main body 10, the IC chip IF 28 and the antenna 280 are disposed in the document feeder. That is, the IC chip IF 28 and the antenna 280 are arranged in the vicinity of the conveyance path of the original paper 40 in the original feeder, and read data from the IC chip 3 attached to the original paper 40 in a non-contact manner.
The control device 2 is actually housed inside the copy apparatus main body 10.

FIG. 3A illustrates the original sheet 40 with the IC chip 3 attached, and FIG. 3B illustrates the data stored in the IC chip 3.
As illustrated in FIG. 3A, an original image is represented on the surface of the original paper 40. An IC chip 3 is attached to the peripheral edge of the original paper 40.
As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the IC chip 3 attached to the original paper 40 stores an identifier of the original image shown on the original paper 40.
In addition, access information indicating that the identifier has been read is written in the IC chip 3. The access information includes, for example, the access date and time (date and time when the identifier is read), the device identifier (identification information of the copying apparatus 1 that has read the identifier), the number of prints (the number of original images printed based on the identifier), and the like. It is.

[IC chip 3 / IC chip IF28]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of the IC chip 3 shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of the IC chip IF 28 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the IC chip 3 includes an antenna 300, a clock recovery circuit 320, a memory circuit 322, a data transmission / reception circuit 324, and a power supply circuit 326.
If the IC chip 3 of the original paper 40 is guaranteed to pass very close to the antenna 280, the IC chip 3 without the antenna 300 may be used.

As shown in FIG. 5, the IC chip IF 28 includes a transmission circuit 284, a reception circuit 286, a transmission / reception control circuit 282, a demodulation circuit 288, and a modulation circuit 290.
Information (data) is written in the IC chip 3 in a non-contact manner via the IC chip IF 28 by the operation of each component of the IC chip 3 and the IC chip IF 28 described below, and the information stored in the IC chip 3 is stored in the IC chip 3. Reads without contact.

  In the IC chip 3 (FIG. 4), the power supply circuit 326 rectifies the radio signal supplied via the antenna 300 and supplies the power necessary for the operation to each component of the IC chip 3. .

  The clock recovery circuit 320 recovers a clock signal from a radio wave signal supplied from the IC chip IF 28 via the antenna 300 and outputs the clock signal to the memory circuit 322 and the data transmission / reception circuit 324.

The memory circuit 322 is, for example, a nonvolatile RAM, and stores data indicating information input from the data transmission / reception circuit 324 in synchronization with the clock signal input from the clock recovery circuit 320.
The memory circuit 322 outputs data indicating the stored information to the data transmission / reception circuit 324 in synchronization with the clock signal.

The data transmission / reception circuit 324 demodulates data from the radio wave signal input from the antenna 300 and outputs the data to the memory circuit 322 in synchronization with the clock signal input from the clock recovery circuit 320.
Further, the data transmission / reception circuit 324 changes the reflection intensity of the radio wave signal supplied from the IC chip IF 28 side in synchronization with the clock signal in accordance with the value of the data input from the memory circuit 322.
Thus, the data indicating the information stored in the memory circuit 322 is changed from the IC chip 3 to the IC chip IF 28 by changing the intensity of the reflected signal of the radio wave signal transmitted from the IC chip IF 28 to the IC chip 3. Sent to.

In the IC chip IF 28 (FIG. 5), the transmission / reception control circuit 282 controls the operation of each component of the IC chip IF 28.
The transmission / reception control circuit 282 outputs data input from the control device body 20 (image processing program 5; described later with reference to FIG. 6) to the demodulation circuit 288.
The transmission / reception control circuit 282 outputs the data received by the reception circuit 286 and demodulated by the demodulation circuit 288 to the control device body 20.

  The modulation circuit 290 modulates the radio signal with the data input from the transmission / reception control circuit 282 and outputs the modulated radio signal to the transmission circuit 284.

  The transmission circuit 284 transmits a radio signal including data to be stored in the IC chip 3 and a clock signal to the IC chip 3 via the antenna 280.

  The reception circuit 286 receives the reflected signal from the IC chip 3 side and outputs it to the demodulation circuit 288.

  The demodulation circuit 288 demodulates the data transmitted by the IC chip 3 from the change in the reflected signal input from the reception circuit 286 and outputs the data to the transmission / reception control circuit 282.

[Image processing program 5]
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image processing program 5 that is executed by the control device 2 (FIG. 2) and implements the image forming method according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, the image processing program 5 includes an image reading unit 500, a UI unit 510, a data reading unit 520, a control unit 530, a data selection unit 540, an information acquisition unit 550, an image formation control unit 560, and data writing. Part 570.
The image processing program 5 is supplied to the control device 2 via, for example, the recording medium 240 (FIG. 2), loaded into the memory 204, and executed.

  In the image processing program 5, the image reading unit 500 controls components of the copying apparatus main body 10 (FIG. 2) such as a scanner and a document feeder, and conveys the document sheet 40 (FIG. 3). 40 original images are read. The image reading unit 500 outputs the read document image data to the data selection unit 540.

The UI unit 510 accepts a user operation on the UI device 26 (FIG. 2), and outputs data indicating the start of printing to the control unit 530 and the like.
Further, the UI unit 510 displays on the UI device 26 that an image is to be printed based on the identifier read from the IC chip 3 in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 530. The UI unit 510 may display the identifier on the UI device 26 when printing document image data corresponding to the identifier.

  The data reading unit 520 controls the IC chip IF 28 (FIG. 5) to read the identifier data from the IC chip 3 (FIG. 3) attached to the document sheet 40. The data reading unit 520 outputs the read identifier to the control unit 530 and the information acquisition unit 550.

The control unit 530 controls the data selection unit 540 to select image data to be output according to the identifier input from the data reading unit 520. Specifically, when an identifier is input, control unit 530 instructs data selection unit 540 to output document image data read from file server 9 to image formation control unit 560 based on the identifier. When the identifier is not input, the data selection unit 540 is instructed to output the document image data (scanned image data) input from the image reading unit 500 to the image formation control unit 560.
In addition, when an identifier is input, the control unit 530 controls the UI unit 510 to print a document image based on the identifier or to display the identifier on the UI device 26 (FIG. 2). .

  The data selection unit 540 controls the document image data (scanned image data) input from the image reading unit 500 and the document image data input from the information acquisition unit 550 (in accordance with the control of the control unit 530). The image data to be output is selected from the original image data acquired based on the image data, and the selected image data is output to the image formation control unit 560.

The information acquisition unit 550 requests the file server 9 via the network 7 (FIG. 1) for document or image data corresponding to the identifier input from the data reading unit 520.
Further, the information acquisition unit 550 outputs the document image data received from the file server 9 to the data selection unit 540.

  The image formation control unit 560 controls components of the copy apparatus main body 10 (FIG. 2) such as a print engine, and prints a document image on a recording sheet based on document image data input from the data selection unit 540. .

  When the identifier is read from the IC chip 3, the data writing unit 570 controls the IC chip IF 28 (FIG. 5) and writes that the identifier has been read from the IC chip 3 to the IC chip 3. Specifically, when the data writing unit 570 detects that the image data read from the file server 9 is selected by the data selection unit 540, the data writing unit 570 causes the IC chip 3 to write access information such as access date and time.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating data stored in the file server 9.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, the file server 9 includes a document image data file (“document image A”, “document image B”, “document image C”, etc.) and an identifier (“identifier A”) of the document image. , “Identifier B”, “identifier C”, etc.) are stored in association with each other.
When the file server 9 receives the identifier from the information acquisition unit 550 (FIG. 6), the file server 9 transmits a data file of the document image corresponding to the received identifier to the information acquisition unit 550.

[Overall operation]
Hereinafter, the overall operation of the copying apparatus 1 will be described.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation (S10) of the copying apparatus 1 (image processing program 5).
As shown in FIG. 8, in step 100 (S100), the user sets the manuscript paper 40 in the copying apparatus 1 (FIG. 1) and instructs copying.
When the UI unit 510 (FIG. 6) receives a copy instruction via the UI device 26 (FIG. 2) of the copy apparatus 1, the image reading unit 500 reads and reads a document image displayed on the document sheet 40. The data of the original document image is output to the data selection unit 540.

  In step 102 (S102), the data reading unit 520 (FIG. 6) controls the IC chip IF 28 (FIG. 2) to read the identifier from the IC chip 3 attached to the original paper 40, and the identifier is read. In the case of a failure, this identifier is output to the control unit 530 and the information acquisition unit 550.

In step 104 (S104), control unit 530 determines whether an identifier is input from data reading unit 520 or not.
The image processing program 5 proceeds to the processing of S106 when the identifier is input, and proceeds to the processing of S114 when the identifier is not input.

In step 106 (S106), the information acquisition unit 550 transmits the identifier input from the data reading unit 520 to the file server 9 (FIG. 1) via the network 7 (FIG. 1).
The file server 9 transmits document image data corresponding to the identifier received from the information acquisition unit 550 to the information acquisition unit 550.
The information acquisition unit 550 outputs the document image data received from the file server 9 to the data selection unit 540.

In step 108 (S108), the control unit 530 instructs the UI unit 510 to display printing based on the identifier.
In response to an instruction from the control unit 530, the UI unit 510 displays a message to print based on the identifier on the UI device 26 (FIG. 2).

  In step 110 (S110), the data writing unit 570 controls the IC chip IF 28 (FIG. 2), and uses the current date and time, the number of printed sheets, and the identification information of the copying apparatus 1 as access information for the IC chip 3 (FIG. 3). Write to.

In step 112 (S112), the data selection unit 540 (FIG. 6) outputs the development image data input from the information acquisition unit 550 to the image formation control unit 560.
The image formation control unit 560 controls the components of the copying apparatus main body 10 (FIG. 2), and prints the document image on a recording sheet based on the document image data input from the data selection unit 540.

In step 114 (S114), the data selection unit 540 (FIG. 6) outputs the developed image data (scanned image data) input from the image reading unit 500 to the image formation control unit 560.
The image formation control unit 560 controls the components of the copying apparatus main body 10 (FIG. 2), and prints the document image on a recording sheet based on the document image data input from the data selection unit 540.

As described above, the copying apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment acquires document image data based on the identifier read from the IC chip 3 and prints based on the acquired document image data. Thereby, it is possible to prevent image quality deterioration due to repeated copying.
Further, when printing based on the digital data acquired based on the identifier, the copying apparatus 1 displays the fact or identifier on the UI device 26.
Further, the copying apparatus 1 enables the use state of the document image by writing in the IC chip 3 that the identifier has been read.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, the document image data is read from the external file server 9 based on the identifier read from the IC chip 3. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The data of the document image corresponding to the identifier may be read from the provided recording device 24 (FIG. 2).
Further, the IC chip 3 may store the original image data itself. That is, the data reading unit 520 controls the IC chip IF 28 to read the document image data from the IC chip 3 and outputs the read document image data to the control unit 530 and the data selection unit 540. The control unit 530 instructs the data selection unit 540 to select the document image data read from the IC chip 3 when the document image data is read from the IC chip 3.

It is a figure explaining the outline | summary of the image processing system concerning this invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a copy apparatus 1 with a control device 2 as an example. (A) illustrates the original paper sheet 40 with the IC chip 3 attached, and (B) illustrates the data stored in the IC chip 3. It is a figure which shows the structure of IC chip 3 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an IC chip IF 28 shown in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the structure of the image processing program 5 which is performed by the control apparatus 2 (FIG. 2), and implement | achieves the image processing method concerning this invention. 4 is a diagram illustrating data stored in a file server 9. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation (S10) of the copy apparatus 1 (image processing program 5).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Copy apparatus 2 ... Control apparatus 10 ... Copy apparatus main body 28 ... IC chip interface 5 ... Image processing program 500 ... Image reading part 510 ... UI part 520 ... Data reading unit 530 ... Control unit 540 ... Data selection unit 550 ... Information acquisition unit 560 ... Image formation control unit 570 ... Data writing unit 3 ... IC chip 40 ... Original Paper 9 ... File server

Claims (9)

An image processing apparatus for providing image data to be formed to an image forming apparatus,
Data reading means for reading identification data of information from a data storage device attached to a document;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information corresponding to the identification data read by the data reading means;
An image processing apparatus comprising: output means for outputting information acquired by the information acquisition means to the image forming apparatus. Image reading means for reading an image displayed on a document;
When the data storage device is attached to the original, the information acquired by the information acquisition unit is output. When the data storage device is not attached to the original, the image read by the image reading unit is output. Control means for controlling the output means to output data,
The output unit according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs information acquired by the information acquisition unit or image data read by the image reading unit to the image forming apparatus in accordance with control of the control unit. Image processing device. The data storage device attached to the original stores identification data of the original image displayed on the original.
The information acquisition means acquires document image data corresponding to the identification data read by the data reading means;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs document image data acquired by the information acquisition unit to the image forming apparatus. An image processing apparatus for providing image data to be formed to an image forming apparatus,
Image reading means for reading an image displayed on a document;
Data reading means for reading data of information from the data storage device attached to the document;
Image data read by the image reading means, or output means for outputting information data read by the data reading means to the image forming apparatus;
An image processing apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the output means so as to output data of information read by the data reading means when a data storage device is attached to the document. A display means for displaying information to be provided to the user;
The control means outputs the image data of the original read by the image reading means when no data storage device is attached to the original, and stores the data storage when the data storage device is attached to the original. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is controlled to display identification data read from the apparatus or that an image is formed based on the identification data. An image processing system having an image display member on which an image is displayed and an image forming apparatus,
The image display member is
A data storage device for storing identification data of information,
The image forming apparatus includes:
Image reading means for reading an image displayed on the image display member;
Data reading means for reading identification data of information from the data storage device attached to the image display member;
Information acquisition means for acquiring information corresponding to the identification data read by the data reading means;
An image forming unit that forms an image on a recording medium based on image data read by the image reading unit or information acquired by the information acquiring unit;
An image processing system comprising: control means for controlling the image forming means to form information acquired by the information acquiring means on a recording medium when a data storage device is attached to the image display member. An image forming method for forming an image using a data storage device attached to an image display member,
The information displayed on the image display member and the identification data for specifying this information are stored in association with each other,
When the identification data of the information displayed on the image display member is stored in the data storage device attached to the image display member, the identification data is read from the data storage device,
Read the information corresponding to the read identification data,
An image forming method for forming read information on a recording medium. The image forming method according to claim 7, wherein when information corresponding to the identification data is read, the fact that the information has been read is written in the data storage device. In an image processing apparatus including a computer,
A step of reading identification data of information from the data storage device when the document has a data storage device;
Obtaining information corresponding to the read identification data from a database that stores the identification data and the information in association in advance;
A program for causing the image processing apparatus to execute a step of outputting information acquired based on identification data when a data storage device is attached to the document.

Images