JP2006173814A - Image reading apparatus and original medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading apparatus surely detecting an embedded position of an RFID tag independently of a paper size of an original and a set attitude of the tag and properly reading digital information from the RFID tag in the case of reading image data from the original to which the RFID tag is embedded. <P>SOLUTION: The image reading apparatus 10 is configured with: an image read means 11 for reading the image data from the original 3 that is placed or carried on the basis of its one-end side; and an information read means 11c for reading digital information from the RFID tag embedded to the original 3. Then the RFID tag is embedded to two diagonal corners of the original 3, and the information read means 11c is arranged at a position corresponding to the referenced one-end side so that at least one of the RFID tags comes nearer in the case of reading the image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that reads image data from a document and a document medium that serves as the document, and more particularly to an image reading device and a document medium that are compatible with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag embedding.
In this specification, a medium such as a recording sheet is referred to as a “document medium”, and a document in which an image is drawn on the document medium is referred to as a “document”.

  In recent years, an image reading apparatus and a manuscript medium corresponding to embedding of an RFID tag have been proposed (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3). An RFID tag is a wireless IC chip in which information such as an identification code is recorded, and has a function of transmitting and receiving information to and from a dedicated reader using radio waves. Is. There are various shapes such as a label type, a card type, a coin type, and a stick type, and the communication distance ranges from several millimeters to several meters. Furthermore, there is a battery that can be used semipermanently without a battery by a non-contact power transmission technique from the antenna side.

  By embedding such an RFID tag in a manuscript medium, that is, a medium such as a recording sheet that can be a manuscript, digital information such as an identification code is recorded on the manuscript medium in addition to visible information such as characters and figures. (See, for example, Patent Document 1). Further, even when copying using an image reading apparatus, by performing operation control based on information recorded in the RFID tag, security management of confidential documents and the like can be performed at a high level ( For example, see Patent Document 2). Furthermore, it is also possible to identify and manage a document at a sheet level using an identifier attached to the sheet itself for managing the document (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

JP 2002-337426 A JP 2001-160117 A JP 2002-120475 A

  By the way, when the RFID tag is embedded in the original medium, it is conceivable that the embedded position is in the vicinity of one corner of the original medium as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1 described above. However, depending on the embedded position, there is a possibility that information cannot be accurately read from the RFID tag. For example, when an RFID tag is embedded in the vicinity of a corner of an original medium, for example, if the upper and lower sides (top and bottom of the drawn image) or the front and back of the original using the original medium are reversed, the RFID tag This is because the distance between the dedicated reader and the information reader cannot be exchanged. In this regard, it is conceivable to use a dedicated reader with high reception sensitivity or to scan the entire surface of the original with the dedicated reader. However, a dedicated reader with high reception sensitivity may cause interference from other originals, and performing full-face scanning of originals is not always preferable because it lacks speed of processing.

  In other words, in any of the above-described conventional techniques, depending on the relationship between the embedded position of the RFID tag and the posture (upside down, upside down, etc.) when the document is set on the image reading apparatus, the digital recorded on the RFID tag Information may not be read accurately. In particular, if documents of various paper sizes are mixed in a document to be read, the above-described relationship becomes more complicated, and this can occur remarkably.

  In general, an RFID tag is recorded with a document identification code, security information, and the like as digital information. However, it cannot be said that digital information is effectively utilized by these contents alone. This is because it is impossible to determine in what posture the document is set in the image reading apparatus only by digital information taken out from the RFID tag.

  Therefore, the present invention can reliably detect the embedded position of the RFID tag and accurately read out digital information from the RFID tag regardless of the paper size of the document and the set posture. An object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus and a manuscript medium that can further improve convenience for a user by effectively using digital information read from a tag.

The present invention is an image reading apparatus devised to achieve the above object, and as described in claim 1, an image reading for reading image data from a document placed or conveyed with one side as a reference. And information reading means for reading digital information from RFID tags embedded in at least two corners of the original, and the information reading means includes one end side of the reference original. It is characterized in that at least one is arranged at a position corresponding to.
Alternatively, as described in claim 2, image reading means for reading image data from a document placed or conveyed with reference to a central portion in the main scanning direction, and sub-scanning passing through the central portion of the document Information reading means for reading digital information from an RFID tag embedded on a direction line, and at least one information reading means is disposed at a position corresponding to the central portion serving as the reference. It is characterized by this.

  The present invention also provides a manuscript medium devised to achieve the above object, and is a rectangular sheet-like manuscript medium for use in reading image data by an image reading apparatus as described in claims 11-14. Each of the two corners located on the diagonal of the original medium, near the intersection connecting the diagonal lines of the original medium, or on a line along the sub-scanning direction when reading the original medium, and An RFID tag is embedded in the vicinity of both ends of the original medium or in each of the four corners of the original medium on a line passing through the central portion in the main scanning direction at the time of reading It is.

According to the image reading apparatus and the document medium configured as described above, when reading image data from a document on the basis of one end side, at least a position corresponding to the one end side (for example, a position near the one end side) One information reading unit arranged to read digital information from the RFID tag. For this reason, RFID tags are embedded in at least two corners of the document (including the case where the document is embedded in each of the four corners in addition to the case where the document is embedded in each of the two corners). For example, at the time of reading image data, at least one of the RFID tags is positioned in the vicinity of the information reading means. Therefore, the digital information is read out from any one of the RFID tags by the information reading unit regardless of the paper size of the document and the set posture.
When reading image data from a document with reference to the central portion in the main scanning direction, a position corresponding to the central portion (for example, a line passing through the central portion and extending in the sub-scanning direction). At least one information reading means arranged at the above position) reads digital information from the RFID tag. Therefore, on the line in the sub-scanning direction passing through the central part of the document (position near the intersection connecting the diagonal lines of the document, position on the line passing through the central part in the main scanning direction on the line along the sub-scanning direction, etc. If the RFID tag is embedded in at least one of the RFID tags, the RFID tag is positioned in the vicinity of the information reading means. Therefore, the digital information is read out from any one of the RFID tags by the information reading unit regardless of the paper size of the document and the set posture.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image reading apparatus devised to achieve the above object, and an image reading means for reading image data from a document and embedded in the document as described in claim 3. An information reading unit for reading digital information about an embedding position of the RFID tag on the original from the RFID tag, and an attitude determination unit for determining the position of the original based on the content of the digital information read by the information reading unit; It is characterized by providing.

  According to the image reading apparatus having the above configuration, since the RFID tag embedded in the document stores digital information about the embedded position of the RFID tag on the document, the content is based on the content of the digital information. Thus, the posture determination means determines the posture of the document. Specifically, for example, if the content of the digital information obtained from the RFID tag near the reading start position of the image data indicates that the embedded position of the RFID tag is near the top edge of the document, the orientation of the document is Although it is determined that the (top / bottom) direction is set correctly, if the RFID tag is embedded in the vicinity of the lower edge, the orientation of the document is set upside down (top / bottom). Is determined. That is, based on the contents of the digital information obtained from the RFID tag, for example, not only the identification code and security information of the document but also the posture in which the document is set can be determined.

  As described above, according to the image reading apparatus and the manuscript medium according to the present invention, the embedded position of the RFID tag can be reliably detected regardless of the paper size of the manuscript and the set posture, and the digital from the RFID tag can be detected. Information can be read accurately. That is, there is an effect that digital information can be read from the RFID tag embedded in the document without causing a reading mistake or the like.

  Further, based on the contents of digital information obtained from the RFID tag, it is possible to determine the posture in which the document is set. Therefore, for example, even if the upper and lower sides, the front and back, etc. of a multi-page document stack overlap without order, image processing is performed so that the posture of each page of the document is automatically determined and the posture of each page is aligned after reading the image data. It is also possible to make the user aware of the state of the document. Further, for example, when applied to a facsimile machine or the like, even if a document is set upside down due to user's carelessness, it is possible to notify the user of that fact and call attention to the transmission destination. It is possible to prevent erroneous transmission of the back side image (blank paper). That is, the convenience for the user can be further improved by effectively using the digital information read from the RFID tag.

  Hereinafter, an image reading apparatus and a document medium according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Description of manuscript media]
First, a document medium used for a document to be read by the image reading apparatus, that is, a rectangular sheet-shaped document medium used for reading image data by the image reading apparatus will be described. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of an example of a document medium according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the document medium 1 described here is not only a document with an image drawn on its front or back surface, but also an RFID at each of the two corners located at opposite corners. Tag 2 is embedded. More specifically, the RFID tag 2 is embedded in the upper right corner and the lower left corner on the original medium 1 and at respective positions that are α (preset value) mm away from both ends constituting the corner. Yes. The RFID tag 2 here includes its antenna. Note that the details of the RFID tag 2 may be realized using a known technique, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, n-bit digital information is recorded on the RFID tag 2. As n-bit digital information, a document identification code, security information, and the like can be recorded. However, in the lowest two bits (see the shadow portion in the figure), information about the embedding position of the RFID tag 2 on which the digital information is recorded on the document is recorded.

  As information about the embedding position, information shown in FIG. For example, when an A4 size original medium 1 is used as a vertically written original (hereinafter referred to as “SEF”), the RFID tag 2 embedded in the upper right corner of the original medium 1 has “ Information “00” is recorded, and information “01” is recorded in the lowest two bits of the RFID tag 2 embedded in the lower left corner. When the A4 size original medium 1 is used as a horizontal original (hereinafter referred to as “LEF”), the RFID tag 2 embedded in the upper right corner of the original medium 1 has “10” in the least significant two bits. The information “11” is recorded in the lowest two bits of the RFID tag 2 embedded in the lower left corner.

It is assumed that the information about the embedding position is recorded in the RFID tag 2 before being read by the image reading apparatus, like other n-bit digital information.
Further, although the A4 size original medium 1 is shown in the figure, the RFID tag 2 may be embedded and information recorded on other size original mediums in the same manner.

[Description of Configuration Example of Image Reading Apparatus]
Next, an image reading apparatus that reads an original using the original medium 1 as described above will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of the image reading apparatus according to the present invention. An image reading apparatus 10 described here is used as a scanner apparatus, a copying machine, or a FAX apparatus. As shown in the figure, a scanner section 11, a DADF (Duplexing Automatic Document Feeder) section 12, and an image processing section 13 are used. A user interface (hereinafter abbreviated as “UI”) unit 14 and a control unit 15.

  The scanner unit 11 reads image data from the document 3 using the document medium 1. For this purpose, the scanner unit 11 includes a platen glass 11a, a carriage 11b, and an image sensor (not shown). The carriage 11b moves along the platen glass 11a to scan the document placed on the platen glass 11a, and the image sensor reads the image data.

  The carriage 11b in the scanner unit 11 is provided with an RFID reader 11c at a position described in detail later. The RFID reader 11 c reads digital information from the RFID tag 2. Note that the details of the RFID reader 11c may be realized using a known technique, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  Here, the scanner unit 11 will be described in more detail. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a main configuration of the image reading apparatus.

  In the scanner unit 11, when the document 3 is placed on the platen glass 11 a, the placement is performed with reference to one end side of the document 3. Specifically, the document 3 is placed so that the edge of the document 3 abuts against the edge of the platen glass 11a with the edge on the back side (see A in the figure) as viewed from the front of the image reading apparatus. It is placed on the platen glass 11a.

  Then, for the document 3 on the platen glass 11a, the carriage 11b moves in the sub-scanning direction of document scanning (see arrow B in the figure). The document 3 on the platen glass 11a is scanned by the movement in the sub-scanning direction and an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) line sensor extending in the main scanning direction.

  The carriage 11b is provided with an RFID reader 11c. The RFID reader 11c corresponds to one end side (see A in the figure) of the document 3 that serves as a reference when placed on the platen glass 11a. At least one is arranged at the position to be. The position corresponding to the one end side serving as a reference is a position in the vicinity of the one end side on the carriage 11b, and is the detection sensitivity of the RFID reader 11c and the position where the RFID tag 2 is embedded in the original medium 1 (particularly the size of α). The position specified based on this. A plurality of RFID readers 11c may be arranged on the carriage 11b, but it is desirable that only one RFID reader 11c is arranged at the above-described position on the carriage 11b from the viewpoint of simplifying the configuration.

  In FIG. 2, the DADF unit 12 automatically feeds the document 3, and supplies the document to the platen glass 11a of the scanner unit 11 and discharges the document from the platen glass 11a. . The DADF unit 12 can also perform document reversal, and after reversing the front and back of the document 3 discharged from the platen glass 11a, the document 3 is again supplied onto the platen glass 11a. It is possible.

  The image processing unit 13 performs predetermined image processing on the image data read from the document 3 by the scanner unit 11. The predetermined image processing includes editing processing for rotating (rotating) image data in units of pages and correcting the direction (for example, the vertical direction).

  The UI unit 14 is used by the user of the image reading apparatus 10 to perform an operation for inputting information or to output information to the user. The information output to the user includes an alarm output about the placement state of the document 3 on the platen glass 11a of the scanner unit 11.

  The control unit 15 is for performing operation control of the entire image reading apparatus 10. The operation control includes determination of the placement state of the document 3 on the platen glass 11a. The placement state of the document 3 refers to the posture of the document 3 when it is placed on the platen glass 11a, specifically, the direction in which the document 3 is placed (for example, the vertical direction or SEF / LEF). The control unit 15 determines the posture of the document 3 based on the contents of the digital information read by the RFID reader 11c.

The control unit 15 stores and holds information used for posture determination of the document 3 in a table format. The information used to determine the orientation of the document 3 includes the contents of the digital information recorded on the RFID tag 2, specifically the least significant 2 bits of the digital information, and the pattern of the embedded position of the RFID tag 2 on the document Information on the correspondence relationship with.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example thereof. FIG. 4A shows the correspondence between the least significant 2 bits and the document pattern in each case for an A4SEF document and FIG. 4B for an A4LEF document.
In the example of the figure, an example in the case of A4 size is shown, but in the case of other sizes as well, it can be applied in exactly the same manner, only the length of the scan end position is different.

[Description of Processing Operation Example in Image Reading Apparatus]
Next, an example of processing operation in the image reading apparatus configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of processing operation in the image reading apparatus according to the present invention. The processing operation example described here is an example in the case where image data read by the image reading apparatus 10 is printed out on a recording sheet, that is, a print job is executed.

  For example, for a bundle of originals 3 composed of a plurality of original media 1, the bundle of originals 3 is set in the DADF unit 12, and the automatic mode (size, color, output result alignment by RFID) is designated by the UI unit 14. When the start button is pressed, if the image reading apparatus 10 is in a state where image data can be read by the scanner unit 11 (step 101; hereinafter, step is abbreviated as “S”), the DADF unit 12 The first original 3 is fed. The DADF unit 12 recognizes the document size at the time of the feed (S102). Thus, for example, in the case of an A4 size document 3, the size in the sub-scanning direction is recognized as 297 mm or 210 mm.

  Further, when the document 3 is supplied onto the platen glass 11a by the feed of the DADF unit 12, the scanner unit 11 causes the carriage 11b to perform a prescan operation. At this time, the document 3 supplied on the platen glass 11a is placed on the platen glass 11a with one end side as a reference, and the RFID tag 2 is embedded in each of the two corners located on the opposite sides. Yes. On the other hand, an RFID reader 11c is disposed at a position corresponding to the one end side on the carriage 11b. Therefore, when the carriage 11b is pre-scanned, the RFID reader 11c moves in the reading range (see FIG. 3) along the one end side, so that the original 3 is placed on the platen glass 11a in any posture. Also, the RFID reader 11c disposed on the carriage 11b passes through the vicinity of any one of the RFID tags 2 embedded in the document 3. Then, during the passage, digital information is read from any one RFID reader 11c (S103).

  When the document size is detected and the digital information is read from the RFID tag 2 in this manner, the control unit 15 subsequently determines the orientation of the document 3 on the platen glass 11a, and the document 3 is turned upside down. It is determined whether or not (S104). Specifically, for example, the least significant 2 bits of the digital information read from the RFID reader 11c are “01”, and the reading of the information is near the end of the pre-scan operation, and the carriage 11b has operated (297−α) mm. If the document 3 is at a location, the posture of the document 3 is “pattern 1 (FIG. 1) by referring to the information used for posture determination stored and held in a table format based on the contents of the read digital information. 4 (a)) ”and the document 3 is determined to be turned upside down.

  If the result of this determination is that the document 3 is not upside down and is correctly placed, the control unit 15 instructs the carriage 11b of the scanner unit 11 to perform the main scanning operation, and the platen glass 11a The original 3 is scanned, and image data is read from the original 3 (S105). Then, the image data for one page obtained by the reading is stored in the page buffer in the forward direction as it is (S106), and the printout of the image data in the page buffer is instructed as necessary (S107). ).

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the document 3 is turned upside down, the control unit 15 instructs the carriage 11b of the scanner unit 11 to perform the main scan operation, and reads image data from the document 3. (S108), the image processing unit 13 performs image processing for inverting the vertical direction on the image data for one page obtained by the reading before storing the image data in the page buffer (S109). Then, the image data whose orientation has been corrected by image processing is stored in the page buffer, and thereafter, printing output of the image data in the page buffer is instructed as necessary (S107).

  Then, in the image reading apparatus 10, the above steps (S101 to S109) are repeated until all the bundles of the originals 3 set on the DADF unit 12 are completed (S110).

  As described above, in the image reading apparatus 10 described here, when the image data is read from the document 3 on the basis of one end side as in the invention described in claim 1, it corresponds to one end side. At least one RFID reader 11c arranged at a position reads digital information from the RFID tag 2 and, as in the invention according to claim 11, the document medium 1 used as the document 3 is diagonally arranged. RFID tags 2 are embedded at two corners. Accordingly, since at least one of the RFID tags 2 embedded in the document medium 1 is positioned in the vicinity of the RFID reader 11c, any one of them can be used regardless of the paper size of the document 3 and the set posture. Digital information is read from one RFID tag 2 by the RFID reader 11c. That is, the RFID reader 11c surely passes through the vicinity of the embedded position of the RFID tag 2 without using a dedicated reader with high reception sensitivity or having the dedicated reader scan the entire surface of the document. The digital information can be accurately read from the RFID tag 2.

  However, here, the case where the RFID tag 2 is embedded only in the two corners of the document medium 1 is described as an example. However, if at least the two corners are included, for example, as shown in FIG. It may be. In other words, the RFID tag 2 may be embedded in each of the four corners of the document medium 1 used as the document 3 as in the invention described in claim 14. Digital information is read from the tag 2 by the RFID reader 11c.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus 10 described here, as in the third aspect of the invention, the control unit 15 determines the posture of the document 3 based on the contents of the digital information read from the RFID tag 2. In addition, as described in the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, information about an embedding position of the RFID tag 2 on the document is recorded on the document medium 1 used as the document 3. In other words, based on the contents of the digital information obtained from the RFID tag 2, for example, not only the identification code and security information of the document 3 but also the posture in which the document 3 is set can be determined. Therefore, the digital information recorded on the RFID tag 2 can be further effectively used, and as a result, the convenience for the user can be further improved.

  In addition, since the image reading apparatus 10 described here stores and holds information used for posture determination of the document 3 in a table format as in the invention described in claim 4, when the posture determination of the document 3 is performed. The determination can be made quickly and accurately without requiring complicated processing. In this example, the case of storing and holding information in the table format for the A4SEF document and the A4LEF document has been described as an example, but information is stored and held for all the document sizes that can be read by the scanner unit 11. Of course, it is desirable to keep it.

  The information storage in the table format is not necessarily performed on the image reading apparatus side. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the image reading apparatus 10 is an RFID that is an external device via a communication line 20 constituting a network. If the management database 30 is accessible, information may be acquired from the RFID management database 30 via the communication line 20 as in the fifth aspect of the invention. In this case, the information acquired from the RFID management database 30 may be stored and held in the image reading apparatus 10 in a table format as in the invention described in claim 6. As described above, when accessing the RFID management database 30 that is an external device, for example, even when there are a plurality of image reading devices 10 on the network, it is possible to collectively manage information, and to change or update information. Can be easily handled.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus 10 described here, the image processing unit 13 performs image processing on the image data read by the scanner unit 11 based on the determination result in the control unit 15 as in the invention described in claim 7. Therefore, even if the original 3 is not correctly set on the platen glass 11a, for example, the correction can be automatically performed. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8A, when processing a bundle of documents 3 composed of a plurality of document media 1, the orientation of the documents 3 on each page is not uniform in the bundle. There can be. However, in this case, if the processing of the bundle of documents 3 is continuously performed using the DADF unit 12, if the correction of the orientation of the documents 3 can be automatically performed, FIG. Thus, since the orientation of each page can be made uniform, it is very convenient for the user.

  However, the determination result in the control unit 15 is not only used for the orientation correction by the image processing as described above, but can also be used for the alarm output to the user as in the invention described in claim 8. In this case, for example, the orientation of the document 3 on the platen glass 11a is not specified so that the vertical direction of the document 3 is not correct or the information is not read from the RFID tag 2 without being brought into contact with the reference position. If it is in a state, an alarm output to that effect may be performed from the UI unit 14. Since the alarm output itself may be performed using a known technique, the description thereof is omitted here.

  In the processing operation example described here, the RFID reader 11c reads information from the RFID tag 2 during the pre-scan operation, and the scanner unit 11 reads image data from the document 3 during the subsequent main scan operation. As described above, since the RFID reader 11c is disposed on the carriage 11b, each of them may be performed at the same timing, for example, during the main scanning operation, as in the invention described in claim 10. I do not care. If each is performed at the same timing, even if the RFID reader 11c reads information from the RFID tag 2, the processing can be speeded up.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus 10 described here, the case where the RFID reader 11c is disposed on the carriage 11b has been described as an example. However, as shown in FIG. The RFID reader 11c may be arranged on the 12 side. In this case, the RFID reader 11c can be arranged at a position near the reference edge of the document 3 in the DADF unit 12 or at least one position near the paper guide 12a that moves to the document 3 according to the size. As described above, if the RFID reader 11c is arranged on the DADF unit 12 side, it is suitable for the so-called CVT (Constant Velocity Transfer) method in which the original 3 is moved and image data is read.

[Description of other examples of manuscript media]
Next, another configuration example of the document medium will be described. However, only differences from the above-described configuration example will be described here. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of another example of the manuscript medium according to the present invention.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the RFID tag 2 is embedded in at least two corners of the document medium 1 is taken as an example. However, the document medium 4 described here includes the document as shown in FIG. An RFID tag 5 is embedded in the vicinity of the intersection that connects the diagonal lines of the medium 4. The RFID tag 5 is embedded only on the surface (front surface) on which the image is drawn as shown in FIG. 10A, or on both the front and back surfaces as shown in FIG. 10B. It may be broken.

  In addition to the document identification code and security information, the RFID tag 5 stores information about the front and back of the document medium 4 in the lowest 1 bit.

[Description of Processing Operation Example in Image Reading Apparatus]
Next, an example of processing operation in the image reading apparatus for the document medium 4 as described above will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing another example of the processing operation in the image reading apparatus according to the present invention. The processing operation example described here is an example in which image data read by the image reading apparatus is transmitted by facsimile, that is, a FAX job is executed.

  In the image reading apparatus, when placing the document on the platen glass 11a, unlike the above-described embodiment, the placement is performed with reference to the central portion of the document in the main scanning direction. Yes. This reference position is common to each document size. That is, even if the document size changes, the reference position does not change. Corresponding to this, at least one RFID reader 11c is arranged at a position corresponding to a central portion in the main scanning direction as a reference. The position corresponding to the central portion in the main scanning direction refers to a position near the central portion in the main scanning direction and specified based on the detection sensitivity of the RFID reader 11c. A plurality of RFID readers 11c may be arranged, but only one is desirable, and it may be arranged either on the carriage 11b or on the DADF unit 12 side, as in the above-described embodiment. It is.

  In such an image reading apparatus, a document bundle made up of a plurality of document media 4 is set in the DADF unit 12, and an automatic mode (size, color, output result alignment by RFID) is designated by the UI unit 14 and started. When the button is pressed, in the image reading apparatus, if the scanner unit 11 can read the image data (S201), the DADF unit 12 feeds the first document. The DADF unit 12 recognizes the document size at the time of feeding (S202).

  When the document is fed onto the platen glass 11a by the feed of the DADF unit 12, the scanner unit 11 causes the carriage 11b to perform a prescan operation. At this time, the document supplied on the platen glass 11a is placed on the platen glass 11a with reference to the central portion in the main scanning direction, and the RFID tag 5 is embedded in the vicinity of the intersection that connects the diagonal lines. On the other hand, an RFID reader 11c is disposed at a position corresponding to the central portion in the main scanning direction on the carriage 11b or the DADF section 12 side. Therefore, when the carriage 11b is pre-scanned, the RFID reader 11c disposed on the carriage 11b passes through the vicinity of the RFID tag 5 embedded in the document. Then, during the passage, digital information is read from the RFID reader 11c (S203).

  When the document size is detected and the digital information is read from the RFID tag 5 in this way, the control unit 15 subsequently determines the orientation of the document on the platen glass 11a, and whether the document is reversed upside down. It is determined whether or not (S204). Specifically, for example, when the RFID tag 5 is embedded on both the front and back surfaces, the surface facing the carriage 11b side based on the content of the least significant 1 bit of the digital information read from the RFID tag 5. It is determined whether is the front side or the back side. If the RFID tag 5 is embedded only on one side of the document, the content of the least significant 1 bit of the digital information read from the RFID tag 5 or whether the digital information has been read can be determined. Determine the front and back of the document.

  As a result of this determination, if the document is not reversed and placed correctly, the control unit 15 instructs the carriage 11b of the scanner unit 11 to perform the main scanning operation, and the platen glass 11a is instructed. The original is scanned and image data is read from the original (S205). Then, the image data for one page obtained by the reading is temporarily stored in the page buffer (S206).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the document is reversed, the control unit 15 outputs an alarm to that effect from the UI unit 14 (S207) and asks the user who operates the UI unit 14 for an instruction ( S208). As a result, if the user instruction input from the UI unit 14 is “reverse document front / back”, the control unit 15 gives an operation instruction to the DADF unit 12, and the document that is determined to be reversed upside down is once platen glass. After discharging from the top of 11a and inverting the front and back, the platen glass 11a is supplied again (S209). Then, the control unit 15 instructs the carriage 11b of the scanner unit 11 to perform a main scan operation, scans the original after the front and back are reversed, and reads image data from the original (S205). If the user instruction from the UI unit 14 is “send as it is”, the control unit 15 causes the carriage 11 b of the scanner unit 11 to perform the main scan operation without instructing the DADF unit 12 to turn the document upside down. . If the user instruction from the UI unit 14 is “stop”, the control unit 15 interrupts the processing related to image reading and ends the processing.

  The image reading apparatus repeats the above steps (S201 to S209) until all the document bundles set in the DADF unit 12 are finished (S210), and the image data for all pages of the document bundle is paged. When the data is stored in the buffer, FAX transmission is performed on the image data for all the pages (S211), and the processing operation is terminated.

  As described above, in the image reading apparatus described here, when reading image data from a document on the basis of the central portion in the main scanning direction as in the second aspect of the invention, the central portion corresponds to the central portion. At least one RFID reader 11c arranged at a position to read digital information from the RFID tag 5 and, as in the invention according to claim 12, diagonal lines are connected to the original medium 4 used as the original. An RFID tag 5 is embedded near the intersection. Therefore, if the document is set correctly, the RFID tag 5 embedded in the document medium 4 always passes through the position near the RFID reader 11c, so that the document size is not limited. The digital information can be accurately read from the RFID tag 5 without using a dedicated reader with high reception sensitivity or having the dedicated reader scan the entire surface of the document.

  However, here, the case where the RFID tag 5 is embedded in the vicinity of the intersection connecting the diagonal lines of the document medium 4 is taken as an example. However, if the RFID tag 5 is on the line along the sub-scanning direction passing through the central portion in the main scanning direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, RFID tags 5 may be embedded at positions near both ends of the original medium. That is, the document medium 4 used as the document passes through the center portion in the main scanning direction at the time of reading on the line along the sub-scanning direction at the time of reading, as in the invention described in claim 13. On the line, the RFID tags 5 may be embedded in the vicinity of both ends of the original medium. Even in this case, digital information is accurately read from the RFID tag 5 by the RFID reader 11c. In addition, in this case, it is possible to determine not only the reverse of the original but also the upside down of the original.

  Further, in the image reading apparatus described here, as shown in the eighth aspect of the invention, based on the determination result in the control unit 15, the scanner unit 11 inverts the front and back of the document to be read by the image data. Since the DADF unit 12 has the function, for example, even when the original is not correctly set on the platen glass 11a, the correction can be automatically performed. Specifically, when processing a document bundle composed of a plurality of document media 4, even if the front and back of the originals of each page are not uniform within the bundle, the front and back of the document are corrected using the DADF unit 12. Therefore, it is possible to avoid erroneous transmission of a blank portion in FAX transmission, which is very convenient for the user.

  In the above-described embodiments, preferred specific examples of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to the contents, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist thereof. .

4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams showing an outline of an example of a document medium according to the present invention, where FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of an RFID tag embedding position, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of RFID tag recording information, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence relationship between an embedding position and recorded information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of schematic structure of the image reader which concerns on this invention, (a) is the top view, (b) is the front view, (c) is a principal part expansion perspective view. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of a principal part structure of the image reading apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the specific example of the correspondence with the pattern of the embedding position on the document of a RFID tag, (a) is a figure which shows the example about A4SEF document, (b) is a figure which shows the example about A4LEF document. is there. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing operation in the image reading apparatus according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the other example of the manuscript medium based on this invention. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a system configuration example when an image reading apparatus according to the present invention is connected to a network. FIG. 2A and 2B are explanatory diagrams illustrating a specific example of image processing performed by the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a state before image processing, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a state after image processing. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the principal part structure of the image reading apparatus which concerns on this invention. 4A and 4B are explanatory views showing an outline of another example of a manuscript medium according to the present invention, in which FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example in which an RFID tag is embedded only on one side, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the processing operation in the image reading apparatus according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the further another example of the manuscript medium based on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,4 ... Document medium, 2,5 ... RFID tag, 3 ... Document, 4 ... Wide lens, 10 ... Image reading device, 11 ... Scanner part, 11a ... Platen glass, 11b ... Carriage, 11c ... RFID reader, 12 ... DADF section, 12a ... paper guide, 13 ... image processing section, 14 ... UI section, 15 ... control section, 20 ... communication line, 30 ... RFID management database

Claims (15)

Image reading means for reading image data from a document placed or conveyed on the basis of one end side;
An information reading means for reading digital information from at least RFID tags embedded in two corners located at opposite corners of the document;
At least one of the information reading means is disposed at a position corresponding to one end side of the reference document. Image reading means for reading image data from a document placed or conveyed with reference to the central portion in the main scanning direction;
An information reading means for reading digital information from an RFID tag embedded in a line in the sub-scanning direction passing through the central portion of the document,
At least one of the information reading means is disposed at a position corresponding to the reference central portion. The image reading apparatus. Image reading means for reading image data from a document;
Information reading means for reading digital information about the embedded position of the RFID tag on the document from the RFID tag embedded in the document;
An image reading apparatus comprising: an attitude determination unit that determines the attitude of the document based on the content of the digital information read by the information reading unit. Information for use in determination by the posture determination means, and information that stores and holds information about the correspondence between the content of digital information recorded on the RFID tag and the embedded position of the RFID tag on the document in a table format The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a storage unit. Information for use in determination by the posture determination means, and information relating to the correspondence between the contents of digital information recorded on the RFID tag and the embedded position of the RFID tag on the document is connected via a communication line. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires from an external device. Information for use in determination by the posture determination means, and information relating to the correspondence between the contents of digital information recorded on the RFID tag and the embedded position of the RFID tag on the document is connected via a communication line. Information acquisition means for acquiring from an external device;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: an information storage unit that stores and holds information acquired by the information acquisition unit in a table format. 5. An image processing unit that performs image processing for correcting the orientation of an image on the image data read by the image reading unit based on a determination result by the posture determination unit. The image reading apparatus according to 5 or 6. A document conveying unit that conveys the document and causes the image reading unit to read image data;
The document conveying unit has a function of inverting the front and back of a document to be read by the image reading unit based on a determination result by the posture determining unit. The image reading apparatus according to 3, 4, 5 or 6. 7. The image according to claim 3, further comprising an alarm output means for outputting an alarm to that effect when the posture determination means determines that the posture of the document is in a specific state. Reader. The image data read by the image reading unit and the digital information read by the information reading unit are configured to be performed at the same timing. 10. Image reading apparatus. A rectangular sheet-like document medium for use in reading image data by an image reading device,
An original document medium, wherein RFID tags are embedded in two corners of the original medium opposite to each other. A rectangular sheet-like document medium for use in reading image data by an image reading device,
An original medium characterized in that an RFID tag is embedded in the vicinity of an intersection connecting diagonal lines of the original medium. A rectangular sheet-like document medium for use in reading image data by an image reading device,
RFID tags are placed on the lines along the sub-scanning direction at the time of reading with respect to the original medium and on the lines passing through the central portion in the main-scanning direction at the time of reading, near the both ends of the original medium. A manuscript medium characterized by being embedded. A rectangular sheet-like document medium for use in reading image data by an image reading device,
An original medium, wherein RFID tags are embedded in each of the four corners of the original medium. 15. The document according to claim 11, 12, 13, or 14, wherein information on an embedded position of the RFID tag on the document medium or information on the front and back of the document medium is recorded on the RFID tag. Medium.

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