JP2005323305A - Image reading device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform merge processing using a merge object existing as a paper document and a merge original. <P>SOLUTION: An image reading device includes a reading means which optically reads originals and makes them into data, a merge object specifying means which specifies a page to be merged as a merge object among the originals, a merge area specifying means which specifies a merge area in the page to be merged, a merge original specifying means which specifies a page in the merge original as a merge original among the originals, a merge element specifying means which specifies an area of the merge element in the page in the merge original, and a merge means which generates data of a post-merge document where the merge element specified by the merge element specifying means is merged into the merge area of the page to be merged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus having a function of performing insertion processing.

  In daily life and business scenes, it may be necessary to create a plurality of documents that basically have the same content (for example, a guide letter) but have different parts (for example, destinations). The most primitive method for performing such processing is to prepare a plurality of guide letters with blank addresses, and write the address by hand in each address field. This method is very complicated because the address must be written by hand.

  As a processing method in which this method is advanced one step, for example, a plurality of guide letters with a blank address are used by using document creation software and a printing device such as a printer operating on a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”). Then, there is a method of printing paper (label) on which a plurality of addresses are printed, separating the paper on which the addresses are printed for each destination, and sticking them one by one on a guide. This method is the same as the previous method in that the label cutting is complicated, but it is convenient in that data can be reused because a plurality of destinations can be left as data. That is, when a document different from the previous one is faxed to the same plurality of destinations, the destination data can be reused, and the user does not need to input the destination data again.

However, even with this second method, the guide letter and the destination must be printed separately and cut and pasted. In view of this, a technique called so-called insertion processing has been developed in which an insertion element (in this example, a destination) is pasted on data to be inserted (in this example, a guide letter). Such a technique is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example.
JP-A-4-242474 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-120288

  However, the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem that the user must have both the document to be inserted and the document to be the insertion source describing the insertion element as data. It was. Therefore, for example, if a business man on a business trip has paper with a guide letter and customer list printed but does not have electronic data, or if the PC cannot be used, I couldn't benefit.

In such an environment where electronic data or a PC cannot be used, insertion processing using a paper document is required. As a technique related to the insertion processing using a paper document, for example, there are techniques described in Patent Documents 3 to 4.
JP-A-2-116564 JP-A-8-115414

However, in the techniques described in Patent Documents 3 to 4, the document to be inserted is a paper manuscript. However, the image to be the insertion element can be used only in an image stored in the apparatus in advance, and has a high degree of freedom. There was a problem that was very limited.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for performing an insertion process using an insertion target and an insertion source existing as a paper document.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a reading unit that reads a document and outputs image data, a storage unit that stores the image data, and an insertion target page to be inserted in the document. An insertion target specifying means for specifying, an insertion area specifying means for specifying an insertion area in the insertion target page, and an insertion source specifying means for specifying an insertion source page as an insertion source among the originals And an insertion element specifying means for specifying the area of the insertion element in the insertion source page, and the insertion element specified by the insertion element specifying means is inserted into the insertion area of the insertion target page. Provided is an image reading device having insertion means for generating post-insertion document data. According to this image reading apparatus, it is possible to perform insertion processing using an insertion target and an insertion source existing as a paper document.

In a preferred aspect, the image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes a post-processing designating unit that designates an output process for a post-insertion document generated by the insertion unit, and an output process designated by the post-processing designating unit. Output means for outputting a document after insertion.
In this aspect, the image reading apparatus includes post-processing designation information storage means for storing post-processing designation information for designating processing executed by the output means, and the post-processing designation from the insertion target page or the insertion source page. A post-processing designation information extracting unit for extracting information; and the post-processing designation unit may designate post-processing based on the post-processing designation information extracted by the post-processing designation information extracting unit. . According to this aspect, it is possible to automatically specify the post-processing instruction for the document generated by the insertion process based on the information described in the document.

In another preferable aspect, the image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes an insertion target specifying information storage unit that stores insertion target characteristic information indicating characteristics of the insertion target page, and the difference between the original data and the difference. Insertion target feature information extracting means for extracting insertion target feature information, and the insertion target specifying means specifies a page from which the insertion target feature information has been extracted as an insertion target page.
In still another preferred aspect, the image reading apparatus according to the present invention includes, from the original document data, insertion source specific information storage means for storing insertion source characteristic information indicating characteristics of the insertion source page, and And a source feature information extracting unit for extracting the source feature information. The source specifying unit specifies the page from which the source feature information is extracted as the source page.
According to these aspects, it is automatically specified based on the information described on the page that the page is the insertion target or the insertion source.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform insertion processing using an insertion target and an insertion source existing as a paper document.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The image reading apparatus according to the present invention reads (scans) a paper document to be inserted and a paper document to be inserted into data, and then performs insertion processing on the data and outputs the data. .

<1. First Embodiment>
<1-1. Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a multifunction peripheral 100 that is an image reading apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The reading unit 101 optically reads an image appearing on a document and generates data corresponding to the document image. The pre-insertion processing unit 102 performs an insertion process on the data generated by the reading unit 101. The pre-insertion processing unit 102 specifies an insertion target specifying unit 104 that specifies a page to be inserted in the read original, and an area in which the insertion process is performed among the specified insertion target pages. An insertion area specifying unit 103, an insertion source specifying part 105 for specifying a page to be an insertion source in the read original, and an insertion for specifying an area of an insertion element from the specified insertion source page And an element region specifying unit 106. The insertion processing unit 108 performs an insertion process on the data that has been subjected to the pre-insertion processing in the pre-insertion processing unit 102. The data subjected to the insertion process is output at the output unit 109. The multi-function device 100 performs output processing such as image formation processing for forming an image on a recording material such as paper, FAX transmission processing for transmitting data through a telephone line, and data transmission as electronic mail via a network such as the Internet. E-mail transmission processing to be executed. The post-processing designating unit 107 determines which of the above output processes is to be executed as a process after insertion. These processes are executed by the image forming unit 110, the FAX transmission unit 111, and the e-mail transmission unit 112, respectively. In addition, the user can input an instruction to the multifunction device 100 by operating the operation unit 113. The display unit 114 displays a processing status, a message that prompts the user to input an instruction, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100. The multifunction peripheral 100 generally includes a reading unit 101 that optically reads an image from a document, and an image forming unit 110 that forms an image corresponding to the image read by the reading unit 101 on a sheet (recording material). .

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the reading unit 101 of the multifunction peripheral 100. An ADF (Automatic Document Feeder) 11 is an automatic document feeder that conveys documents one by one to a reading area. The user can use the ADF 11 to automatically transport a plurality of documents one by one to the document reading area, or scan the documents manually one by one without using the ADF 11. You can also scan it on top. When scanning using the ADF 11, the user sets a document on the tray 13. The tray 13 is provided with a sensor (not shown), detects the presence of a document set in the tray 13, and outputs a signal indicating that. The documents are conveyed one by one to the conveying roller 15 by the drawing roller 14. The transport roller 15 transports the document toward the platen glass 16 while changing the document transport direction. The document conveyed in this manner is pressed against the platen glass 16 by the back platen 17 and is finally discharged from the ADF 11 by the discharge roller 18. On the platen glass 16, four document reading areas are provided from the upstream to the downstream of the conveyance path. In each of these reading areas, the document is conveyed at a constant speed. Reflected light (original image) emitted from the light source 20a in the reading area and reflected by the original is changed in optical path by the mirror 20b, mirror 21a, and mirror 21b, condensed by the lens 22, and CCD (Charge Coupled Device). An image is formed on the sensor 23. The CCD sensor 23 is, for example, a 4-line CCD sensor, and outputs analog image signals R, G, B, and K to the subsequent circuit in accordance with the reflected light (original image) input in each reading area. When the reading is completed, the document is conveyed by the conveyance roller 15 and is discharged to the discharge tray 19 via the discharge roller 18.

  When scanning without using the ADF 11, the user sets originals one by one on the platen glass 12. When a scan instruction is input by a method such as pressing the start button of the operation unit 113, the first CRG 20 including the light source 20a reads a document image while moving in the direction A in FIG. The CCD sensor 23 outputs analog image signals R, G, B, and K to the subsequent circuit as in the case where the ADF 11 is used.

  Analog image signals R, G, B, K output from the CCD sensor 23 are converted into digital image data R, G, B, K by the A / D conversion circuit 30. These digital image data R, G, B, and K are corrected by a shading correction circuit or the like (not shown) corresponding to the sensitivity variation of the CCD sensor 23 and the light quantity distribution characteristics of the optical system. The digital image data R, G, B, and K corrected in this way are output to the subsequent image processing circuit 31. The image processing circuit 31 converts the digital image data R, G, B, and K into image data Y, M, C, and K corresponding to each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). Convert to K. Hereinafter, part or all of the digital image data Y, M, C, and K is simply referred to as “image data”.

  The CCD drive circuit 33 controls the CCD sensor 23 according to a signal (command) output from the CPU 50. The ADF drive circuit 32 controls the ADF 11 according to a signal (command) output from the CPU 50. The ADF drive circuit 32 has a function of measuring the number of conveyed documents. The CPU 50 reads and executes various programs stored in the ROM 52 or the HDD 53 using the RAM 51 as a work area. Each functional component shown in FIG. 1 is realized by the CPU 50 reading and executing the insertion processing program stored in the HDD 53. The display unit 114 displays an execution screen corresponding to the processing of the program executed by the CPU 50. The operation unit 113 includes a touch panel formed on the display unit 114, a numeric keypad, a start key, a stop key, and the like. The operation unit 113 outputs a signal corresponding to the image displayed on the display unit 114 and a user operation input to the CPU 50.

  With reference to FIG. 2 again, the image forming unit 110 of the multifunction peripheral 100 will be described. The image forming unit 110 rotates in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 2 and forms a toner image of each color of Y, M, C, and K, and charging for uniformly charging the photosensitive drum 71. , An exposure device 73 that forms an electrostatic latent image of each color of YMCK by irradiating the charged photosensitive drum 71 with laser light with exposure light modulated based on image data of each color of YMCK, and each color of YMCK A developing unit 74 that develops an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 71 with toner, thereby forming a toner image of each color of YMCK on the photosensitive drum 71, and a photosensitive after transfer. A drum cleaner 75 for collecting toner remaining on the surface of the body drum 71.

  Further, the image forming unit 110 includes an intermediate transfer belt 76 to which a toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 71 is temporarily transferred. The intermediate transfer belt 76 is an endless belt member, is stretched by a drive roller 77, a primary transfer roller 78, a secondary transfer roller 79, and the like, and is circulated and moved by the drive roller 77 in the direction of arrow b in the figure. On the intermediate transfer belt 76, a belt cleaner 80 for collecting toner remaining after the secondary transfer is provided.

  The primary transfer roller 78 forms a nip region with the photosensitive drum 71 across the intermediate transfer belt 76, and in this nip region, the toner image on the circumferential surface of the photosensitive drum 71 is transferred to the intermediate transfer belt 76 by pressure contact force and electrostatic force. To do. The toner image transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 76 is conveyed by the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 76, and is conveyed while the timing is adjusted by the registration roller 82 in the nip region formed by the secondary transfer roller 79 and the backup roller 81. Secondary transferred onto the incoming paper.

  The paper is supplied by either the cut paper tray 85 or the manual feed tray 86 and is transported along a paper transport path 88 having a plurality of transport rolls 87. On the paper conveyance path 88, a conveyance belt 89, a fixing device 90, and a discharge roll 93 are provided. The sheet on which the toner image is transferred in the nip region formed by the secondary transfer roller 79 and the registration roller 82 is conveyed to the fixing device 90 by the conveyance belt 89. The fixing device 90 fixes the toner image on the paper by heating and pressurizing the paper on which the toner image is fixed. The discharge roll 93 discharges the paper on which the toner image is fixed to the paper discharge tray 94.

  The FAX transmission unit 111 includes a FAX modem, and can transmit input image data by FAX. The e-mail transmission unit 112 includes a processing unit that performs processing such as adding a header according to a predetermined protocol to input text data and a communication interface, and transmits e-mail via the Internet. Is possible.

<1-2. Operation>
Next, the operation of the multifunction device 100 will be described. In the following description, when defining an area in image data with coordinates, in an image divided into pixels and converted into data, the upper left corner is the origin and the x axis is in the horizontal right direction. Suppose that the y-axis is taken vertically downward. The size of the image data is a × b.

  4A and 4B are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the document 1 to be processed in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the document 1 is composed of one insertion target document A-1 and one insertion source document B-1. In the insertion target document A-1, the upper part of the page is blank to insert an address (address, company name, FAX number). Further, in the insertion source document B-1, a plurality of insertion elements are divided by rectangular frame lines. In the following description, the power of the multifunction device 100 is already turned on, and a control program for controlling the multifunction device 100 is activated.

  The user first sets the document 1 on the ADF 11 (step S101). On the display unit 114 of the multifunction device 100, a menu screen for selecting a process to be performed by the multifunction device 100 is displayed. In the present embodiment, in addition to the normal processes of “copy”, “FAX”, and “scanner”, the words indicating the processes of “merge printing”, “merge FAX”, and “merge e-mail” are buttons. Displayed with the image. When the user touches the button portion displayed as “insert printing” on the touch panel, a signal indicating that “insert printing” has been selected is output from the operation unit 113 to the CPU 50. The CPU 50 changes the parameter indicating the processing content stored in the RAM 51 to “insert printing”. The color of the “insert printing” button on the screen changes in accordance with the change in the parameter indicating the processing content, indicating that the insertion printing process has been selected.

  The user instructs the start of processing by pressing the start button of the operation unit 113 (step S102). When the start button is pressed, a signal indicating that is output from the operation unit 113 to the CPU 50.

  The CPU 50 reads (scans) the document in response to pressing of the start button (step S103). Specifically, the CPU 50 outputs a signal for instructing conveyance of the document to the ADF drive circuit 32. The ADF drive circuit 32 controls the ADF 11 and conveys the originals one by one to the reading area. The document is converted into data as image data as described above.

Next, the CPU 50 performs an insertion area specifying process on the obtained image data (step S104). Specifically, the CPU 50 first reads from the HDD 53 an insertion target specifying rule for specifying a page to be inserted in the original. In the present embodiment, the insertion target specifying rule describes a rule “first page is to be inserted”. The CPU 50 specifies the first page as an insertion target according to this rule. That is, an identifier indicating that this page is an insertion target is added to the image data of the first page and stored in the HDD 53. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion target specifying unit 104 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.
The CPU 50 performs processing for specifying the insertion area for the page specified as the insertion target. That is, the CPU 50 reads, from the HDD 53, an insertion area specifying rule that specifies an area to be subjected to insertion processing among the insertion objects. In the present embodiment, “in the insertion target page, a rectangle having (x ₁ , y ₁ ), (x ₂ , y ₂ ), (x ₃ , y ₃ ), (x ₄ , y ₄ ) as vertices The rule that “the enclosed area is the insertion area” is defined. The CPU 50 specifies this area as an insertion target according to this rule. Specifically, the coordinates of the four vertices of the insertion target area are stored in the RAM 51 as parameters for specifying the insertion target area. Further, the CPU 50 calculates the lengths of the sides in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction of the insertion target area (referred to as a ₀ and b ₀ respectively) from the coordinates of the vertices of the insertion target area. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion area specifying unit 103 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.

Next, the CPU 50 performs an insertion element specifying process on the image data (step S105). Specifically, the CPU 50 first reads from the HDD 53 an insertion source specifying rule for specifying a page to be an insertion source in the document. In the insertion source specifying rule, for example, a rule of “second page as insertion source” is described. In accordance with this rule, the CPU 50 specifies the second page as the insertion source. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion source specifying unit 105 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.
The CPU 50 performs processing for specifying the insertion element for the page specified as the insertion source. That is, the CPU 50 reads from the HDD 53 an insertion element area specifying rule that specifies the area of the insertion element among the insertion sources. In the present embodiment, a rule is defined that “in the insertion source page, a region surrounded by a black line rectangle is used as an insertion element”. The CPU 50 performs layout extraction processing on the image data of the insertion source, and extracts a region surrounded by a black line rectangle. The CPU 50 specifies each area extracted by the layout extraction as an insertion element according to the insertion element area specifying rule. Specifically, the coordinates of the four vertices of each insertion element area and the insertion element identifier for specifying each insertion element are stored in the RAM 51 in association with each other. The insertion element identifier is, for example, a natural number given in order from 1 in ascending order of vertical coordinate. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion element specifying unit 106 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.

Next, the CPU 50 extracts the image data of the insertion element having the youngest insertion element identifier “1” from the image data of the insertion source, and stores it in the RAM 51 (step S106). The CPU 50 calculates the lengths of the side of the insertion element in the vertical and horizontal directions (referred to as a ₁ and b ₁ , respectively) from the coordinates of the vertex of the insertion element.

The CPU 50 pastes the image of the insertion element on the insertion target area of the insertion target page (step S107). Specifically, the CPU 50 first calculates a ₁ / a ₀ and b ₁ / b ₀ , respectively. The CPU 50 compares the magnitudes of a ₁ / a ₀ and b ₁ / b ₀ . The CPU 50 stores the reciprocal of the larger value of a ₁ / a ₀ and b ₁ / b _{0 in} the RAM 51 as the expansion coefficient k. The CPU 50 instructs the image processing circuit 31 to perform image processing for enlarging the image of the insertion element by k times in the vertical / horizontal directions. The image processing circuit 31 performs image processing for enlarging the image of the insertion element by k times in the vertical / horizontal directions, and stores them in the RAM 51 (if k <1, the image is actually reduced). The CPU 50 replaces the data in the insertion target area of the insertion target page with the insertion element data stored in the RAM 51. In this way, the destination is pasted on the guide letter document. Hereinafter, the document in which the insertion element is inserted is referred to as “document after insertion”. The enlargement process may be performed only when k> 1. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion processing unit 108 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.

  Next, the CPU 50 specifies the processing content (step S108). Specifically, the CPU 50 reads a parameter indicating the processing content from the RAM 51 and specifies the processing content based on the parameter. The above processing corresponds to the function of the post-processing designation unit 107 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG. The CPU 50 shifts the operation to the process specified by this parameter. The multifunction peripheral 100 according to the present embodiment can execute three processes of insertion printing, insertion FAX, and insertion e-mail.

(1) Insertion printing When insertion printing is selected by the user, insertion printing processing is executed. The CPU 50 confirms the document on the display unit 114 such as a reduced image of the inserted document, a message “Do you want to print this document. Are you sure?”, “OK”, “Cancel” button, etc. An image for prompting is displayed (step S109).
The user confirms the image and presses the “OK” button if it is acceptable (step S110). In the case of OK, the CPU 50 outputs post-insertion image data to the image forming unit 110. The inserted image is printed by the image forming unit 110 (step S111). When canceling the processing, the user presses a “Cancel” button. In this case, the process is interrupted.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the post-insert document 1 ′ generated as described above.

(2) Plug-in FAX
If insertion printing is selected by the user, an insertion FAX process is executed. First, the CPU 50 extracts a FAX number from the insertion element (step S112). Specifically, the CPU 50 performs character recognition processing on the image data of the insertion element stored in the RAM 51, and extracts a character string described in the insertion element. The CPU 50 reads the FAX character string table stored in the RAM 51. In the FAX character string table, a plurality of words such as “FAX”, “FAX”, and “FAX number” which are considered to exist before the FAX number are registered. The CPU 50 searches for a word / phrase registered in the FAX character string table from the character string extracted from the insertion element. When a character string identical to the registered word is detected, the CPU 50 extracts a character string of a predetermined number of characters (for example, 13 characters) following the character string. For example, a character string “: 012-345-6789” is extracted from the uppermost insertion element of the insertion source document B-1. The CPU 50 further extracts only numbers from this character string, and stores this number string in the RAM 51 as the destination FAX number.

  The CPU 50 displays a reduced image of the inserted document, a message “Are you sure you want to fax this document?”, “OK”, “Cancel” button, etc. An image for prompting confirmation is displayed (step S113). In the case of OK, the CPU 50 outputs post-insertion image data and destination FAX number data to the FAX transmission unit 111. The post-insertion image is transmitted by FAX by the FAX transmission unit 111.

(3) Plug-in e-mail When a plug-in e-mail is selected by the user, a plug-in e-mail process is executed. First, the CPU 50 extracts an e-mail address from the insertion element as in the case of the insertion FAX (step S116). That is, the CPU 50 performs character recognition processing on the image data of the insertion element stored in the RAM 51 and extracts a character string described in the insertion element. The CPU 50 reads the e-mail character string table stored in the RAM 51. In the FAX character string table, a plurality of words that are considered to exist before the e-mail address, such as “e-mail:”, “e-mail”, and “e-mail address”, are registered. The CPU 50 searches for a word / phrase registered in the e-mail character string table from the character string extracted from the insertion element. When the CPU 50 detects the same character string as the registered word, the CPU 50 extracts a character string up to one character before a delimiter such as a space or a comma from the character that follows the character string. It is stored in the RAM 51 as a destination electronic mail address.

  The CPU 50 displays a reduced image of the post-insert document, a message “Is this email sent? Are you sure?”, “OK”, “Cancel” button, etc. An image prompting confirmation is displayed (step S117). In the case of OK, the CPU 50 outputs post-insertion image data and destination FAX number data to the FAX transmission unit 111. The post-insertion image is transmitted by FAX by the FAX transmission unit 111.

  When the processes (1) to (3) are completed, the CPU 50 adds an identifier indicating that the inserted element has been processed to the image data of the inserted element that has been processed. The CPU 50 determines whether there is an unprocessed insertion element (step S120). If there is an unprocessed insertion element, the CPU 50 repeatedly executes the processes of S101 to S120 described above.

According to this embodiment, the insertion element described in the paper document can be inserted into the insertion target of the paper document. At that time, the user only needs to possess the insertion object and the insertion element as a paper document, and does not need to possess it as electronic data. Therefore, the user cannot use the PC or the like, or the child who cannot use the PC or the like. Even the elderly can easily perform the insertion process.
In addition, this embodiment relates to an operation that should be referred to as a full auto mode. Since the insertion process is performed simply by setting the document 1 on the ADF 11 and pressing the start button, copying can be performed without performing any troublesome operations. It is possible to obtain a document that has been subjected to insertion processing as if it were taken.

<2. Second Embodiment>
FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration of the multifunction machine 100 is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the document 2 to be processed in the present embodiment. The document 2 is composed of an insertion target document A-2 to be an insertion target and an insertion source document B-2 to be an insertion source. In the insertion target document A-2, an address and a company name of a certain destination are already described in the upper left part, but this area becomes the insertion target area. Further, in the insertion source document B-2, the destination company name and address, which are insertion elements, are shown in the table.

  As in the first embodiment, the display unit 114 of the multifunction device 100 displays a menu screen for selecting processing to be performed by the multifunction device 100. For example, the user selects insertion printing and presses the start button (step S201). When the start button is pressed, the CPU 50 causes the display unit 114 to display a message prompting the reading of the insertion target such as “Please scan the insertion target” (step S202). Upon confirming the message, the user sets the insertion target document A-2 in the ADF 11 and presses the start button (step S203).

  The CPU 50 outputs a command to the ADF driving circuit 32 to convey the insertion target document A-2 to the reading area one by one. The insertion target document A-2 is conveyed one by one to the reading area and read in the reading area. The CPU 50 adds an insertion target identifier indicating that the image is an insertion target, and converts the read image into data. The insertion target identifier includes information indicating that the image is an insertion target and information indicating the page number of the image. The CPU 50 stores the read image data to be inserted in the HDD 53.

  Next, the CPU 50 displays a reduced image of the image to be inserted and a message prompting the user to input an operation such as “Please specify the insertion area” (step S204). In response to the message, the user designates the insertion area by using a touch panel or the like (step S205). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the insertion area is designated. In FIG. 9, the dotted line shows the boundary of the selected area. The CPU stores the coordinates of the vertex of the selected area in the RAM 51 as a parameter for specifying the insertion area. In the present embodiment, a plurality of areas can be designated as the insertion area. When a plurality of areas are designated, the CPU 50 associates the insertion element identifier that identifies each area with the coordinates of the vertex and stores them in the RAM 51. The insertion element identifier is, for example, a natural number assigned in order from 1 in ascending order of the y coordinate of the vertex at the upper left corner of the rectangle defining the insertion area. The insertion element identifier is displayed on the execution screen as shown in FIG. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion area specifying unit 103 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG. The user presses the “OK” button when the specification of the insertion area is completed.

  Subsequently, the CPU 50 causes the display unit 114 to display a message prompting the reading of the insertion source, such as “Please scan the insertion source” (step S206). After confirming the message, the user sets the source document B-2 in the ADF 11 and presses the start button (step S207). As in the case of the insertion target document, the insertion source document B-2 is converted into data by adding an insertion source identifier indicating that the image is the insertion source. The insertion source identifier includes information indicating that the page is an insertion source and information indicating the page number of the page. The CPU 50 stores the read source image data in the HDD 53.

  Next, the CPU 50 displays a reduced image of the insertion source image and a message prompting the user to input an operation such as “Please specify the insertion element” (step S208). In response to the message, the user designates a plug-in element using a touch panel or the like (step S209). FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the insertion element is designated. In FIG. 10, the dotted line indicates the boundary of the selected region. The CPU stores the coordinates of the vertex of the selected area in the RAM 51 as a parameter for specifying the insertion element. In this embodiment, it is possible to specify a plurality of areas as insertion elements corresponding to the insertion areas. When a plurality of areas are designated, the CPU 50 stores the insertion element identifier that specifies each insertion element and the coordinates of the vertex in the RAM 51 in association with each other. The insertion element identifier is, for example, a natural number added in order from 1 to the order selected by the user in S209. The insertion element identifier is also displayed on the execution screen in the same manner as the insertion target identifier (FIG. 10). The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion element specifying unit 106 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG. The user presses the “OK” button when the specification of the insertion element is completed.

  First, the CPU 50 performs the following processing with the insertion element having the insertion object identifier “1” and the insertion element identifier “1” as processing targets. The CPU 50 extracts the image data of the insertion element specified by the vertex coordinates stored in the RAM 51 from the image data of the insertion source, and stores it in the RAM 51. The CPU 50 performs a character recognition process on the image data of the extracted insertion element, and extracts the written character string (step S210).

  The CPU 50 blanks the data of the area specified by the coordinates of the vertex of the insertion area stored in the RAM 51 (step S211), and pastes the image data representing the character string extracted by the character recognition process into the area (step S211). Step S212). At this time, the CPU 50 adjusts the font size of the image representing the character string to an optimum size based on information such as the area of the insertion region and the length of the side of the insertion region. When there are a plurality of insertion target areas, the CPU 50 repeats the above processing for all the target areas. The above processing corresponds to the function of the insertion processing unit 108 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.

  The CPU 50 causes the display unit 114 to display a message “Please select a process” and an image of a button on which the characters “print”, “FAX”, and “e-mail” are written. Selection is prompted (step S213). The user designates a desired process from these and presses the start button (step S214). The multi-function device 100 performs each process of printing (steps S216 to S218), FAX transmission (steps S219 to S223), and e-mail transmission (steps S224 to S228) according to the user's selection, as in the first embodiment. Do. However, in the present embodiment, in the FAX transmission process and the e-mail transmission process, the CPU 50 does not automatically extract the FAX number or the e-mail address by the character recognition process, and displays a screen for prompting the user to input. (S219 and S224), the user manually inputs a FAX number and an e-mail address (S220 and S225). The above processing corresponds to the function of the post-processing designation unit 107 in the functional configuration diagram of FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the post-insert document 2 ′ generated according to the present embodiment. According to the present embodiment, since the insertion element is subjected to character recognition processing, it is possible to perform processing such as line breaks at the time of insertion. In addition, this embodiment mobile phone is related to an operation that should be called a manual mode. Since the document to be inserted and the document to be inserted are read separately, the multi-function device 100 can accurately recognize the insertion target and the source. Further, since the user manually specifies the insertion target area and the insertion element area, the user can flexibly specify the insertion target area and the insertion element area.

  When processing such as printing, FAX transmission, and e-mail transmission is completed, the CPU 50 displays a message confirming whether or not to continue the insertion process, such as “Do you want to continue the insertion process?” On the display unit 114. (Step S229). The user inputs an instruction as to whether or not to continue the insertion input. CPU 50 determines whether or not to continue the process based on the user's instruction input (step S230). When the process is continued, the above steps S208 to S230 are repeatedly executed.

<3. Third Embodiment>
FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B are flowcharts showing the operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration of the multifunction machine 100 is the same as that of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the document 3 to be processed in the present embodiment. The document 3 is composed of an insertion target document A-3 to be an insertion target and an insertion source document B-3 to be an insertion source. In the insertion target document A-3, the insertion area is designated by the hatched area. In the example of FIG. 13, three insertion target areas are designated by three different hatching patterns. In addition, one red circle is drawn on the upper left part of the insertion target document A-3. This is a mark indicating that this document (page) is an insertion target. On the other hand, in the insertion source document B-3, the insertion elements are described as a table. In the first row and the first to third columns of the table of the source document B-3, the same hatching as that used for designating the insertion target area is given. Since the “FAX number” in the first row and the fourth column is not an insertion element, it is not hatched. In addition, “ΔΔ Co., Ltd.”, “ΔΔ prefecture ΔΔ city ΔΔ”, and “11: 00 to 12:00” in the 23rd row are marked with a red X mark. This is an exclusion mark indicating that these cells are excluded from the insertion elements. In addition, two red circles are drawn on the upper left part of the insertion source document B-3. This is a mark indicating that this document (page) is the insertion source. Further, one red circle is drawn on the upper right part of the insertion source document B-3, which is a post-processing designation mark for designating printing as post-processing after insertion processing.
The hatching areas of the insertion target document A-3 and the insertion source document B-3 are formed, for example, by pasting a seal on which a hatching pattern is printed on the document. In other words, the original document B-3 was originally a customer list with “address”, “company name”, and “holding time” in the first row, first to third columns, respectively. It is created by pasting a pattern seal.

  As in the first embodiment, the user first places the document 3 on the tray 13 of the ADF 11 (step S301). A menu screen for selecting a process is displayed on the display unit 114, and the user presses the start button after selecting the process in the same manner as in the first embodiment mobile phone (step S302). The CPU 50 outputs a command to the ADF drive circuit 32 to convey the document 3 to the reading area one by one. The documents 3 are conveyed one by one to the reading area and converted into data (step S303). At this time, a page number identifier indicating the page order is added to the image data of each page. The CPU 50 stores the generated image data in the HDD 53.

First, the CPU 50 performs insertion target page specifying processing on the obtained image data (step S304). Specifically, the CPU 50 reads the insertion target page specifying rule from the HDD 53. In the insertion target page specifying rule, for example, “(0, 0), (a ₂ , 0), (0, b ₂ ), (a ₂ , b ₂ ) are surrounded by a rectangle having apexes. In other words, a rule that “a page with one red circle in the area to be inserted” is described. Based on the insertion target page specifying rule, the CPU 50 determines whether only one red circle exists in the designated area for the first page of the document 3. When it is determined that there is one red circle in the designated area, the CPU 50 adds an insertion target identifier indicating that the page is the insertion target page to the image data of the page. The insertion target identifier includes information indicating that the page is the insertion target page and information indicating the page number. In this manner, the CPU 50 repeats the insertion target page specifying process for the image data of all pages.

  Next, the CPU 50 performs an insertion area specifying process (step S305). Specifically, the CPU 50 reads the insertion area specifying rule from the HDD 53. The insertion area specifying rule describes image data indicating a plurality of types of hatching patterns and a rule that “an area having the same hatching as the image data is set as an insertion area”. The CPU 50 reads the image data to which the insertion target identifier is added, and detects an area having the same hatching pattern as the hatching pattern defined by the insertion area specifying rule. The CPU 50 uses, as parameters defining the detected insertion target area, coordinates of the vertices of a rectangle forming the area, an identifier for specifying the insertion target area, and a hatching identifier for specifying the hatching pattern of the area. The data are stored in the RAM 51 in association with each other. Since a plurality of hatch patterns are registered in the insertion area specifying rule, a plurality of insertion target areas can be specified. In this embodiment, in FIG. 13, the hatched identifier “H1” is assigned to the hatched area (the area on the right side of “Address:”) and the hatched area (“Company name”) is hatched. The hatching identifier “H2” is added to the hatched area (the area on the right side of “X month X day”).

Next, the CPU 50 performs plug-in source identification processing (step S306). Specifically, the CPU 50 reads the insertion source page specifying rule from the HDD 53. In the insertion page specifying rule, for example, “(0, 0), (a ₂ , 0), (0, b ₂ ), (a ₂ , b ₂ ) are surrounded by a rectangle having apexes. The rule that “a page with two red circles in the area is the insertion source” is described. The CPU 50 determines whether there are two red circles in the designated area for the first page of the document 3 based on the insertion source page specifying rule. When it is determined that there are two red circles in the designated area, the CPU 50 adds an insertion source identifier indicating that the page is the insertion source page to the image data of the page. The insertion source identifier includes information indicating that the page is an insertion source page and information indicating a page number. In this way, the CPU 50 repeats the insertion source page specifying process for the image data of all pages.

  Next, the CPU 50 performs an insertion element area specifying process (step S307). Specifically, the CPU 50 reads the insertion element area specifying rule from the HDD 53. In the insertion element area specifying rule, image data indicating a plurality of hatching patterns that are the same as the insertion area specifying rule are stored in association with each other, and “exist in the same column as an area having the same hatching as the image data”. The rule “Area is an insertion element” is described. The CPU 50 reads out image data to which an identifier indicating that the page is a source page is added, and performs a known layout extraction process on the image data. In the present embodiment, each cell of the table shown in FIG. 13 is extracted as an individual area by the layout extraction process. The CPU 50 extracts the image data of each area from the image data of the insertion source page, adds a cell identifier for specifying each cell, and stores it in the RAM 51. In the present embodiment, “RnCm” is added to the cell in the nth row and mth column as the cell identifier. CPU50 searches the area | region which has the same hatching pattern as the hatching pattern registered into the insertion element area | region identification rule from the image data of each area | region extracted. In FIG. 13, a cell in the first row and the second column is detected as an area corresponding to the hatching identifier H1. The CPU 50 adds a hatching identifier “H1” to each image data of a cell (second column cell) that is in the same column as the cell based on the insertion element region specifying rule. Similarly, hatching identifier “H2” is added to the image data of the cells in the first column, and hatching identifier “H3” is added to the image data of the cells in the third column. Further, processing flag data indicating whether or not the cell has been processed is added to the image data of each cell. For example, if the processing flag is “0”, it indicates that no processing has been performed, and if it is “1”, processing has been completed.

  Next, the CPU 50 first extracts the cell having the smallest row number from the cells having the processed flag of “0”. Since the example of FIG. 13 is a table with four columns, four cells are extracted. Among these cells, the CPU 50 searches for cells having hatching identifiers “H1”, “H2”, “H3”,. The cell image data extracted by the search is stored in the RAM 51 as an insertion element corresponding to each hatching identifier.

  Next, the CPU 50 reads the image data of each insertion element, and determines whether or not each insertion element has an exclusion mark (step S308). The exclusion mark is stored in the HDD 53 in advance, and the CPU 50 determines whether an image corresponding to the exclusion mark stored in the HDD 53 exists in each insertion element. If it is determined that an exclusion mark exists, the process is skipped to step S324 described later.

  When it is determined that there is no exclusion mark, the CPU 50 performs character recognition processing on the image data of the insertion element corresponding to each hatching identifier, and extracts a character string described in the cell (step S309). The CPU 50 stores the text data of the character string extracted from each insertion element in the RAM 51 in association with the hatching identifier.

  Next, the CPU 50 rewrites all the image data in the insertion area specified in step S305 to blanks (step S310). The CPU 50 pastes a plug-in element having the same hatching identifier as the hatching identifier corresponding to each plug-in area into each blank plug-in area (step S311). At this time, the CPU 50 selects an optimum font size based on the area of the insertion region, the length of each side, the number of characters of the insertion element, and the like, and an image of the character string of the insertion element represented by the font size. Is pasted into the insertion area.

Next, the CPU 50 determines post-processing (step S312). Specifically, the CPU 50 reads the post-processing specification rule from the HDD 53. The post-processing specification rule includes, for example, “4 points of (a, 0), (a−a ₃ , 0), (a, b ₃ ), (a−a ₃ , b ₃ ) on the source page”. In the area surrounded by the rectangle with the vertex at, the rule is described as "print if there is no red circle, send fax if there is one red circle, send email if there are two red circles" Has been. The CPU 50 specifies post-processing according to the post-processing specifying rule. Similar to the second embodiment, the CPU 50 performs the specified post-processing (printing: S313 to S315, FAX transmission: S316 to S319, e-mail transmission: S320 to S323).

Next, the CPU 50 determines whether or not an unprocessed insertion element remains (step S324). If an unprocessed insertion element remains, the CPU 50 repeatedly executes the processes of S308 to S324. As described above, the insertion processing is performed for all insertion elements.
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the post-insert document 3 ′ generated according to the present embodiment. According to the present embodiment, a plurality of areas can be designated as insertion objects and insertion elements, and since they are automatically recognized, the user performed the insertion process with a simple operation. You can get a document. Further, even when information is already written in the insertion position of the original to be inserted, the information can be replaced with the insertion element of the original to be inserted.

<4. Modification>
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made.
Each embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can have various embodiments, and the first to third embodiments have been described as examples of combinations of the embodiments. However, combinations of the embodiments are combinations described in the embodiments. It is not limited to. For example, as an aspect of the insertion target specifying unit 104 and the insertion area specifying unit 103, the first embodiment automatically sets the first sheet as the insertion target and sets the predetermined area as the insertion area. In the embodiment, the insertion target and the insertion source are read separately, and the mode in which the user manually specifies the insertion area has been described. However, the first sheet is automatically set as the insertion target, and the insertion area is the user. May be manually specified.
In the first embodiment, the mode in which the insertion target area is determined in advance has been described. However, the layout extraction process is performed on the insertion target page, and a blank part that satisfies a predetermined condition such as a position and an area is inserted. It is good also as a structure specified as object.

  The insertion target specifying unit 104 may be configured to specify the insertion target page and the insertion source page by an instruction input from the user. That is, for example, after scanning the document, the CPU 50 displays a reduced image of the document on the display unit 114 and simultaneously displays a message prompting the user to input an instruction such as “Please select a page to be inserted”. The user designates a page to be inserted among pages displayed on the display unit 114 using the touch panel of the operation unit 113, a numeric keypad, and the like.

  As a method for specifying the insertion area by the insertion area specifying unit 103, the user draws a frame line on the document with a pen with a predetermined color, and the CPU 50 uses a predetermined color for the read image data. The drawn frame line may be extracted, and the area surrounded by the frame line may be used as the insertion area. Further, in the third embodiment, as an insertion element region specifying method by the insertion element region specifying unit 106, a mode in which a sticker printed with a predetermined hatching pattern is pasted on the insertion element table has been described. Similarly, the user draws a frame line on the document with a pen with a predetermined color, and the CPU 50 performs a process of extracting the frame line drawn with a predetermined color on the read image data. It is good also as a structure which uses the area | region enclosed with the frame line as an insertion element.

  In the third embodiment, as a function of the insertion source specifying unit 105 or the insertion target specifying unit 104, an aspect in which the insertion target and the insertion source are identified by the number of red circles drawn on the upper left corner of the document will be described. However, the mark for identifying the insertion target and the insertion source is not limited to the number of red circles. The red circle may be an insertion target, and the blue circle may be an insertion source so that the insertion target and the insertion source are identified by the color of the mark. Alternatively, the document may be identified as an insertion target if the upper right portion of the document is bent, and may be identified as the insertion source if the upper left portion is bent (see FIG. 15). That is, the CPU 50 performs a known contour extraction process on the read image data to extract the contour of the document. If the extracted outline is a pentagon having two corners in the upper right part, it is determined that there is a bend in the upper right part. Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted in which a hole is formed in the upper end portion of the document, and the insertion target and the insertion source are identified by the number of holes (see FIG. 16). Similarly, the post-processing designation method by the post-processing designation unit 107 may be a method for detecting bending or punching. Also, instead of marking, bending, and punching, special character strings that specify the target or source of insertion are written on the manuscript, and these special character strings are extracted by character recognition processing. It is good also as a structure which specifies the origin. The same applies to the post-processing designation unit 107.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, a mode in which the insertion element is pasted as image data on the original image data, and after character recognition processing is performed on the insertion element to form text data, font adjustment and a line feed area In the above description, the image pasted to the insertion target as an image subjected to processing such as changing the above has been described, but the function of the insertion processing unit 108 is not limited thereto. For example, the CPU 50 performs character recognition processing on both the insertion target and the insertion element, and inserts the text data of the insertion element into a location corresponding to the insertion area of the text data to be inserted, and then after insertion. Generate text data for the document. When a character to be inserted is recognized, a special character string indicating that it is an insertion area may be inserted into the insertion area. According to this aspect, since the inserted document is generated as text data, it is possible to output a processed document such as font adjustment and line feed insertion.

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the configuration is such that the user's confirmation is requested when performing post-processing such as printing and FAX transmission (for example, S109 in FIG. 4B), but this step is omitted. It is good also as a structure which performs post-processing without a user's confirmation.

  Moreover, it is good also as a structure which makes a user designate beforehand what kind of process is performed in the step corresponding to each above-mentioned function structure. Furthermore, the MFP 100 may store several suitable combinations of these processes in the HDD 53, and the user may designate one combination from among the combinations.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, a business card can be used as a source document. The image data obtained by reading the business card can be enlarged or reduced according to the size of the insertion position, or the business card can be converted into text by OCR processing and only necessary data such as a company name and name can be inserted. Multiple business cards can be arranged as a source document.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 100. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a reading unit 101 of the multi-function peripheral 100. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a document 1 to be processed in the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which illustrates document 1 'after insertion. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating a document 2 to be processed in the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows a mode that an insertion area | region is designated. It is a figure which shows a mode that an insertion element is designated. It is a figure which illustrates the document 2 'after insertion produced | generated by the embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multifunction peripheral 100 according to the embodiment. 4 is a diagram illustrating a document 3 to be processed in the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which illustrates the document 3 'after insertion produced | generated by the embodiment. It is a figure which shows another embodiment which identifies insertion object and insertion origin. It is a figure which shows another embodiment which identifies an insertion object and an insertion origin.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2, 3 ... Original, 11 ... ADF, 13 ... Tray, 14 ... Pull-in roller, 15 ... Conveyance roller, 16 ... Platen glass, 17 ... Back platen, 18 ... Ejection roller, 19 ... Ejection tray, 20 ... First CRG , 22 ... lens, 23 ... CCD sensor, 30 ... A / D conversion circuit, 31 ... image processing circuit, 32 ... ADF drive circuit, 33 ... CCD drive circuit, 50 ... CPU, 51 ... RAM, 52 ... ROM, 53 ... HDD, 71 ... photosensitive drum, 72 ... charger, 73 ... exposure device, 74 ... rotary developer, 75 ... drum cleaner, 76 ... intermediate transfer belt, 77 ... drive roller, 78 ... primary transfer roller, 79 ... secondary Transfer roller, 80 ... belt cleaner, 81 ... backup roller, 82 ... registration roller, 85 ... cut paper tray, 86 ... manual feed tray, 87 ... transport row , 88 ... paper conveyance path, 89 ... conveyance belt, 90 ... fixing device, 93 ... discharge roll, 94 ... discharge tray, 100 ... multifunction peripheral, 101 ... reading unit, 102 ... pre-insertion processing unit, 103 ... insertion Area specifying unit 104 ... Insertion target specifying unit 105 ... Insert source specifying unit 106 ... Insert element region specifying unit 107 ... Post-processing specifying unit 108 ... Insertion processing unit 109 ... Output unit 110 ... Image forming unit 111 ... FAX transmitting unit 112 112 E-mail transmitting unit 113 113 Operation unit 114 Display unit

Claims (5)

Reading means for reading a document and outputting image data;
Storage means for storing the image data;
Of the originals, an insertion target specifying means for specifying an insertion target page to be inserted;
An insertion area specifying means for specifying an insertion area in the insertion target page;
A source specifying unit for specifying a source page to be a source of the original;
An insertion element specifying means for specifying an area of an insertion element in the insertion source page;
An image reading apparatus comprising: insertion means for generating data of a post-insertion document in which the insertion element specified by the insertion element specification means is inserted into an insertion area of the insertion target page. Post-processing designation means for designating output processing for the post-insertion document generated by the insertion means;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an output unit that outputs the post-insertion document by an output process designated by the post-processing designation unit. Insertion target specifying information storage means for storing insertion target feature information indicating the characteristics of the insertion target page;
And further includes insertion target feature information extraction means for extracting the insertion target feature information from the document data,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertion target specifying unit specifies, as an insertion target page, a page from which the insertion target feature information is extracted. Plug-in source information storage means for storing plug-in source characteristic information indicating the characteristics of the plug-in source page;
Further comprising: plug-in feature information extracting means for extracting the plug-in feature information from the document data;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the insertion source specifying unit specifies a page from which the insertion source feature information is extracted as an insertion source page. Post-processing designation information storage means for storing post-processing designation information for designating processing executed by the output means;
A post-processing designation information extracting means for extracting the post-processing designation information from a page to be inserted or a source page;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the post-processing specifying unit specifies post-processing based on the post-processing specifying information extracted by the post-processing specifying information extracting unit.

Images