JP2008046988A - Document management apparatus, identification information generation device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently reflect writes to different printed documents on an electronic document without complication in the case of output of a plurality of printed documents from one and the same electronic document. <P>SOLUTION: In a client 10, an acceptance part 11 receives an instruction to print a first electronic document, and a document generation part 12 generates the same number of second electronic documents as the number of prints, and a document PDL generation part 13 generates document PDLs for document image printing, and a code image generation part 14 generates code images including medium IDs and coordinates, and an output PDL generation part 15 sets the code images to the document PDLs to generate output PDLs, and a transmission part 18 transmits the output PDLs to an image forming apparatus. Meanwhile, when a reception part 16 receives a print completion report from the image forming apparatus, a management information generation part 17 generates management information associating the medium IDs and the second electronic documents with each other, and the transmission part 18 transmits the second electronic documents and the management information to a server. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a document management apparatus, an identification information generation apparatus, and a program.

There is already known a technique capable of associating information that has been added and written in real time with information before adding information on the medium (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In Patent Document 1, a pen-type coordinate input device acquires coordinate information indicating a position on the surface of a medium and document information that is information for uniquely identifying a document on the medium when writing on the medium. To do. Coordinate information or the like is added to the document data of the document as if the contents written on the medium were added to the document.

JP 2004-295905 A

By the way, when printing an electronic document, it is common to specify the number of copies to be printed and to output a plurality of copies of the printed document from the same electronic document. In such a case, a plurality of print documents exist for one electronic document. Therefore, for example, when a plurality of users share one electronic document, there has been a problem that the written contents of different printed documents are reflected in the same electronic document.
Therefore, it is desirable to associate the electronic document with the print document so that the written contents for different print documents can be managed separately. In that case, it is preferable from the viewpoint of processing efficiency at the time of writing that the written content of the printed document can be immediately reflected in the electronic document.

  The present invention has been made under the background as described above. The purpose of the present invention is to output a plurality of printed documents from the same electronic document without complicating writing on different printed documents. The goal is to be reflected efficiently in the document.

  The document management apparatus of the present invention reflects recognition means for recognizing the number of copies designated when printing the first electronic document, and writing data obtained by digitizing writing on the medium on which the first electronic document is printed. In order to achieve this, a generation unit that generates a number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies is provided.

Here, the generation unit may generate a second electronic document in which a print image on a medium on which the first electronic document is printed is reflected.
Further, the generation unit may generate a second electronic document in which the change of the print image is restricted.
On the other hand, the generation unit may generate the same number of second electronic documents as the number of copies.
Further, the generation unit may generate the second electronic document by a number obtained by multiplying the number of copies by the number of pages of the first electronic document.

Further, the document management apparatus of the present invention provides a command for printing the first electronic document and a second electronic document to which handwritten data is to be reflected from the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies. You may further provide the transmission means which transmits the information for specifying.
Furthermore, the document management apparatus of the present invention includes a printing unit that prints the first electronic document, and a second electronic document that should reflect the writing data from the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies. You may further provide the transmission means which transmits the information for specifying.

In addition, the document management apparatus of the present invention further includes a storage unit that stores the writing data and the second electronic document that reflects the writing data of the number of second electronic documents according to the number of copies. It may be.
In this case, the management means for managing the information for specifying the second electronic document reflecting the written data from the identification information of the medium, and the information managed by the management means are referred to, and the information is printed on the medium. Further, the information processing apparatus may further include a specifying unit that specifies the second electronic document that reflects the writing data based on the identification information of the medium.
Further, the information processing apparatus may further include a specifying unit that specifies the second electronic document that reflects the writing data based on the identification information of the second electronic document printed on the medium.

  The identification information generating apparatus according to the present invention includes a recognition unit for recognizing the number of copies designated when printing the first electronic document, and a medium having the same number of prints as the same page of the first electronic document is printed. Generating means for generating different identification information for each medium.

  The program of the present invention reflects on a computer the function of recognizing the number of copies designated when printing the first electronic document and the writing data obtained by digitizing the writing on the medium on which the first electronic document is printed. Therefore, a function for generating the second electronic document corresponding to the number of print copies is realized.

Here, the function to be generated may generate a second electronic document reflecting a print image on a medium on which the first electronic document is printed.
On the other hand, the function to be generated may generate the same number of second electronic documents as the number of copies.
In the function to be generated, the number of second electronic documents may be generated by multiplying the number of copies by the number of pages of the first electronic document.
The program has a function of associating the writing data with a second electronic document reflecting the writing data of the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies to be stored in a predetermined storage device. Further, it may be realized.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of printed documents are output from the same electronic document, writing on different printed documents is efficiently reflected in the electronic document without any complication.
The invention of claim 2 has an effect that writing is reflected in an appropriate position of the electronic document.
The invention of claim 3 has an effect that it is possible to prevent alteration of the electronic document in which writing is reflected.
The invention of claim 4 has an effect that it is possible to improve the processing efficiency when writing on different media in a set of printed documents, for example.
The invention according to claim 5 has an effect of improving the processing efficiency when writing on the same medium in a set of printed documents.
According to the sixth aspect of the invention, there is an effect that an instruction to print an electronic document can be given by the same apparatus.
The invention of claim 7 has the effect that the electronic document can be printed by the same apparatus.
The invention according to claim 8 has an effect that the reflection of the writing on the electronic document can be performed by the same apparatus.
According to the ninth aspect of the invention, after the electronic document is printed on the medium, there is an effect that the correspondence relationship between the electronic document on which the writing is reflected and the medium can be changed.
The invention of claim 10 has an effect that it is possible to quickly obtain an electronic document in which writing is reflected.
The invention of claim 11 has the effect that, when a plurality of printed documents are output from the same electronic document, different handling is possible even if the printed pages are the same page of the electronic document printed.
The invention of claim 12 has the effect that when a plurality of printed documents are output from the same electronic document, writing on different printed documents is efficiently reflected in the electronic document.
The invention of claim 13 has the effect that the writing is reflected in an appropriate position of the electronic document.
According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, for example, it is possible to improve processing efficiency when writing on different media in a set of printed documents.
According to the fifteenth aspect of the present invention, for example, the processing efficiency when writing on the same medium in a set of printed documents can be improved.
The invention of claim 16 has the effect that the reflection of the writing to the electronic document can be performed by the same apparatus.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the present embodiment, a code image is printed on a medium such as paper in addition to a document image obtained by imaging an electronic document to be printed (hereinafter referred to as “first electronic document”). A code image is an image of an identification code and a position code obtained by encoding identification information and position information. Here, the identification information is information that uniquely identifies the medium, and the position information is information that represents coordinates on the medium.

  And in this Embodiment, it writes with the electronic pen with respect to the medium on which such an image was printed. Thereby, handwritten data is generated based on the position information included in the code image. Also, an electronic document (hereinafter referred to as “second electronic document”) for reflecting the writing data is specified based on the identification information included in the code image. Then, writing data is added to the specified second electronic document.

In this specification, the term “electronic document” is used, but this does not mean only data obtained by digitizing a “document” including text. For example, “electronic document” includes image data such as pictures, photographs, figures, etc. (regardless of raster data or vector data) and other printable electronic data.
As described above, medium identification information is assumed below as identification information included in the code image. Therefore, in the present embodiment, “identification information” simply refers to medium identification information unless otherwise specified.
Further, in the following description, the identification information and the position information are clearly distinguished from each other for the sake of simplicity. However, there is a technique in which different position information for each medium is embedded in a code image, and the medium is identified by the difference in the position information. Therefore, when such a method is adopted, it is assumed that the position information has a function of identifying the medium, and this is considered as identification information.

First, the system configuration in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration to which the present embodiment is applied.
As shown in the figure, the system to which the exemplary embodiment is applied is configured by connecting a client 10, a server 20, an image forming apparatus 30, and a client 50 to a network 70. The system further includes a print document 40 and an electronic pen 60.

The client 10 is a computer that instructs to print the first electronic document, and is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer).
The server 20 is a computer that processes writing data obtained by digitizing the writing when writing is performed on the medium on which the first electronic document is printed. That is, the correspondence relationship between the identification information of the medium (hereinafter referred to as “medium ID”) and the identification information of the second electronic document (hereinafter referred to as “second document ID”) is stored. At the time of writing, the medium ID and coordinates are received, and writing data generated from the coordinates is added to the second electronic document specified based on the medium ID.

The image forming apparatus 30 forms an image on a medium. Here, as an image forming method in the image forming apparatus 30, for example, an electrophotographic method can be used, but any other method may be used.
The print document 40 is an image formed on a medium by the image forming apparatus 30.
The client 50 is a computer that transfers information from the electronic pen 60 to the server 20, and is a PC, for example.
The electronic pen 60 is a pen device having a function of recording characters or figures on the print document 40. Further, it has a function of transmitting information obtained from the print document 40 to the client 50.

By the way, in the present embodiment, in a system having such a configuration, when a first electronic document is printed by designating the number of copies to be printed, and a plurality of copies of the print document 40 is output, The second electronic document is generated.
Then, the writing data for each print document 40 is reflected in the corresponding second electronic document.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the present embodiment.
In the figure, a case where three copies of the first electronic document are printed is shown.
That is, as shown by the downward arrows, three second electronic documents 20a, 20b, and 20c are generated from the first electronic document 200, and three print documents 40a, 40b, and 40c corresponding to these are output. Has been.
An arrow from the print document 40a to the second electronic document 20a indicates that the writing data is reflected in the second electronic document 20a when writing to the print document 40a. In addition, an arrow from the print document 40b to the second electronic document 20b indicates that the writing data is reflected in the second electronic document 20b when writing to the print document 40b. Furthermore, an arrow from the print document 40c to the second electronic document 20c indicates that the writing data is reflected in the second electronic document 20c when writing is performed on the print document 40c.

Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described in detail by dividing into processing at the time of printing on the medium and processing at the time of writing on the medium.
A. At the time of printing on the medium The process of generating the second electronic document when the first electronic document is printed on the medium is performed by, for example, the client 10 or the image forming apparatus 30.
Therefore, a case where this processing is performed by the client 10 will be described as a first embodiment, and a case where this processing is performed by the image forming apparatus 30 will be described as a second embodiment.

[First embodiment]
First, the functional configuration of the client 10 in this case will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the client 10.
As illustrated, the client 10 includes a reception unit 11, a document generation unit 12, a document PDL generation unit 13, a code image generation unit 14, an output PDL generation unit 15, a reception unit 16, and a management information generation unit. 17 and a transmission unit 18.

The accepting unit 11 accepts a print instruction from the user and acquires the first electronic document specified by the print instruction. The print instruction includes information specifying the number of copies to be printed, and the receiving unit 11 functions as part of a recognition unit that recognizes the number of copies to be printed.
The document generation unit 12 generates a second electronic document that reflects the print image of the first electronic document, based on the first electronic document specified by the print instruction.
The document PDL generation unit 13 generates a PDL (Page Description Language) file (hereinafter referred to as “document”) including a command sequence for the image forming apparatus 30 to print the document image of the first electronic document based on the second electronic document. PDL ").
The code image generation unit 14 generates a code image obtained by encoding the medium ID and the coordinates representing the position on the medium.
The output PDL generation unit 15 sets the code image as a PDL command in the document PDL and superimposes the code image on the document image of the first electronic document and prints it (hereinafter referred to as “output PDL”). Is generated.

The receiving unit 16 receives from the image forming apparatus 30 a signal reporting that printing has been completed (hereinafter referred to as “printing completion report”).
The management information generation unit 17 generates management information in which the second electronic document generated by the document generation unit 12 and the medium ID embedded in the code image by the code image generation unit 14 are associated with each other.
The transmission unit 18 transmits the output PDL generated by the output PDL generation unit 15 to the image forming apparatus 30, and transmits the management information generated by the management information generation unit 17 to the server 20.

  These functions are realized by cooperation between software and hardware resources. Specifically, a CPU (not shown) of the client 10 includes a reception unit 11, a document generation unit 12, a document PDL generation unit 13, a code image generation unit 14, an output PDL generation unit 15, a reception unit 16, a management information generation unit 17, These functions are realized by, for example, reading a program for realizing the transmission unit 18 from the magnetic disk device into the main memory and executing it. The program and data stored in the magnetic disk device may be loaded from a recording medium such as a CD, or may be downloaded via a network such as the Internet.

Next, the operation in the client 10 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the client 10.
In the client 10, the receiving unit 11 first receives a print instruction for the first electronic document (step 101). Note that the print instruction includes setting information related to printing (hereinafter simply referred to as “setting information”). Here, the setting information includes the paper size, orientation, and the like. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that information on the number of copies is included. The accepting unit 11 takes out the first electronic document from the memory and delivers it to the document generating unit 12 together with the setting information. The setting information is also passed to the code image generation unit 14.

  Thereby, the document generation part 12 produces | generates the 2nd electronic document for reflecting writing data (step 102). In this case, it is preferable that the second electronic document has a layout in which writing on the print document 40 can be reflected at an appropriate position without performing complicated conversion. Therefore, the document generation unit 12 generates a second electronic document reflecting the print image of the first electronic document according to the setting information passed from the reception unit 11. Also, in the present embodiment, the same number of second copies as the number of print copies included in the setting information passed from the accepting unit 11 is set so that the plurality of print documents 40 that have printed the same page do not correspond to the same electronic document. Generate electronic documents. Then, the document generation unit 12 holds the second electronic document in itself and transfers it to the document PDL generation unit 13.

  Here, the second electronic document can be generated as a format that restricts the change of the print image of the first electronic document. Examples of the format of the second electronic document include an image format (BMP, TIFF), “XDW format” in “DocuWorks” of Fuji Xerox Co., “PDF format” in “Acrobat” of Adobe Systems Incorporated, etc. There is. Then, when the second electronic document is generated in a format that restricts the change of the print image of the first electronic document in this way, for example, in the case of an image format, an image of handwritten data is directly synthesized. Can do. In the case of “DocuWorks” of Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., handwritten data can be pasted on the second electronic document using the “annotation” function.

Thereafter, the document PDL generation unit 13 generates a document PDL based on the transferred second electronic document (step 103).
On the other hand, the code image generation unit 14 generates a code image in accordance with the setting information transferred from the reception unit 11 and transfers it to the output PDL generation unit 15 (step 104).
Here, as described above, two types of information are embedded in the code image.
One is a medium ID that uniquely identifies the medium. This medium ID can be generated, for example, by combining information that uniquely identifies the client 10 and information that uniquely identifies a print instruction within the client 10. Here, the number of medium IDs to be generated is determined according to the setting information. That is, basically, the number of medium IDs obtained by multiplying the number of pages to be printed by the number of copies is generated.
The other is coordinates for specifying a position on the medium. As the coordinates, those having a necessary range according to the paper size and orientation included in the setting information are prepared.

Thereby, the output PDL generation unit 15 sets the code image generated by the code image generation unit 14 as a PDL command in the document PDL generated by the document PDL generation unit 13 (step 105). The PDL generated here expresses the document contents in a certain color space and expresses the code part in a color space different from the color space, and is passed to the transmission unit 18.
Then, the transmission unit 18 transmits the delivered output PDL to the image forming apparatus 30 (step 106).
Accordingly, the image forming apparatus 30 forms a composite image on a medium using, for example, an electrophotographic method, and outputs a print document 40.

At that time, the document image based on the document PDL is formed using toner other than the code image drawing, and the code image uses K toner (infrared light absorbing toner containing carbon) or special toner. Form.
Here, as the special toner, an invisible toner having a maximum absorption rate of 7% or less in the visible light region (400 nm to 700 nm) and an absorption rate of 30% or more in the near infrared region (800 nm to 1000 nm) is exemplified. . Here, “visible” and “invisible” are not related to whether they can be recognized visually. “Visible” and “invisible” are distinguished depending on whether or not an image formed on a printed medium can be recognized by the presence or absence of color development due to absorption of a specific wavelength in the visible light region. Further, “invisible” includes those that have some color developability due to absorption of a specific wavelength in the visible light region but are difficult to recognize with human eyes.
In addition, the invisible toner preferably has an average dispersion diameter in the range of 100 nm to 600 nm in order to increase the near-infrared light absorption capability necessary for machine reading of an image.

When the output of the print document 40 is completed, the image forming apparatus 30 transmits a print completion report to the client 10.
As a result, in the client 10, the receiving unit 16 receives the print completion report and notifies the management information generating unit 17 to that effect (step 107).
Then, the management information generation unit 17 first acquires the second electronic document from the document generation unit 12 and acquires the medium ID included in the code image from the code image generation unit 14. Then, the management information generation unit 17 generates management information by associating them with each other, and delivers the management information together with the second electronic document to the transmission unit 18 (step 108). At this time, in the present embodiment, the same number of second electronic documents as the number of print copies has been generated, so that the medium ID is associated with the second electronic document for each set of print documents. In the present specification, “print document set” refers to a group of print documents when one electronic document is output. That is, when N copies of the electronic document are output, N sets of print documents are obtained.
Thereafter, the transmission unit 18 transmits the second electronic document and management information to the server 20 (step 109). Then, the second electronic document and management information are stored in the server 20.

  In the first embodiment, the client 10 instructs the image forming apparatus 30 to print the first electronic document, generates a second electronic document, and registers it in the server 20. . However, the server 20 can perform the same operation. In this case, FIG. 3 can be considered as showing the functional configuration of the server 20, and FIG. 4 can be considered as showing the operation of the server 20. However, if the server 20 performs the same operation, the second electronic document and management information are not transmitted to the outside in step 109 but are stored in their own memory.

[Second Embodiment]
First, the functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 30 in this case will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image forming apparatus 30.
As illustrated, the image forming apparatus 30 includes a document generation unit 32, a document image generation unit 33, a code image generation unit 34, a synthesis unit 35, a reception unit 36, a management information generation unit 37, and a transmission unit. 38 and a printing unit 39.

The document generation unit 32 generates a second electronic document reflecting the print image of the first electronic document based on the PDL for printing the document image of the first electronic document.
The document image generation unit 33 generates a document image of the first electronic document based on the second electronic document.
The code image generation unit 34 generates a code image formed by encoding the medium ID and the coordinates representing the position on the medium.
The synthesizing unit 35 generates a synthesized image in which the code image is superimposed on the document image of the first electronic document.

The receiving unit 36 receives PDL from the client 10. The PDL includes information for designating the number of copies to be printed, and the receiving unit 36 functions as part of a recognition unit that recognizes the number of copies to be printed.
The management information generation unit 37 generates management information in which the second electronic document generated by the document generation unit 32 is associated with the medium ID embedded in the code image by the code image generation unit 34.
The transmission unit 38 transmits the management information generated by the management information generation unit 37 to the server 20.

These functions are realized by cooperation between software and hardware resources. Specifically, a CPU (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 30 includes a document generation unit 32, a document image generation unit 33, a code image generation unit 34, a synthesis unit 35, a reception unit 36, a management information generation unit 37, and a transmission unit 38. These functions are realized by, for example, reading a program to be realized from a magnetic disk device into the main memory and executing it. The program and data stored in the magnetic disk device may be loaded from a recording medium such as a CD, or may be downloaded via a network such as the Internet.
On the other hand, the printing unit 39 is a mechanism for printing the synthesized image generated by the synthesizing unit 35 on a medium.

Next, the operation in the image forming apparatus 30 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image forming apparatus 30.
In the image forming apparatus 30, the receiving unit 36 first receives a PDL for printing the first electronic document (step 301). The PDL includes setting information regarding printing. Here, the setting information includes the paper size, orientation, and the like. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that information on the number of copies is included. The receiving unit 36 passes the PDL including the setting information to the document generating unit 32. The setting information is also passed to the code image generation unit 34.

  Thereby, the document generation part 32 produces | generates the 2nd electronic document for reflecting writing data (step 302). In this case, it is preferable that the second electronic document has a layout in which writing on the print document 40 can be reflected at an appropriate position without performing complicated conversion. Therefore, the document generation unit 32 generates a second electronic document reflecting the print image of the first electronic document according to the setting information passed from the reception unit 36. Further, in the present embodiment, the same number of second copies as the number of print copies included in the setting information passed from the receiving unit 36 is set so that a plurality of print documents 40 that print the same page do not correspond to the same electronic document. Generate electronic documents. Then, the document generation unit 32 holds the second electronic document in itself and transfers it to the document image generation unit 33.

  Here, the second electronic document can be generated as a format that restricts the change of the print image of the first electronic document. Examples of the format of the second electronic document include an image format (BMP, TIFF), “XDW format” in “DocuWorks” of Fuji Xerox Co., “PDF format” in “Acrobat” of Adobe Systems Incorporated, etc. There is. Then, when the second electronic document is generated in a format that restricts the change of the print image of the first electronic document in this way, for example, in the case of an image format, an image of handwritten data is directly synthesized. Can do. In the case of “DocuWorks” of Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd., handwritten data can be pasted on the second electronic document using the “annotation” function.

Thereafter, the document image generation unit 33 generates a document image based on the transferred second electronic document (step 303).
On the other hand, the code image generation unit 34 generates a code image in accordance with the setting information transferred from the reception unit 36 and transfers it to the synthesis unit 35 (step 304).
Here, as described above, two types of information are embedded in the code image.
One is a medium ID that uniquely identifies the medium. For example, the medium ID can be generated by combining information that uniquely specifies the image forming apparatus 30 and information that uniquely specifies printing in the image forming apparatus 30. Here, the number of medium IDs to be generated is determined according to the setting information. That is, basically, the number of medium IDs obtained by multiplying the number of pages to be printed by the number of copies is generated.
The other is coordinates for specifying a position on the medium. As the coordinates, those having a necessary range according to the paper size and orientation included in the setting information are prepared.

As a result, the synthesizing unit 35 synthesizes the document image generated by the document image generating unit 33 and the code image generated by the code image generating unit 34 to generate a synthesized image, and outputs the synthesized image to the printing unit 39 (step 305). ).
Then, the printing unit 39 forms a composite image on a medium using, for example, an electrophotographic method, and outputs a print document 40 (step 306).
At this time, the document image is formed using a toner other than that for drawing the code image, and the code image is formed using K toner (infrared light absorbing toner containing carbon) or special toner. Since this special toner has already been described, description thereof is omitted here.

When printing is completed, the printing unit 39 notifies the management information generating unit 37 to that effect. As a result, the management information generation unit 37 acquires the second electronic document from the document generation unit 32 and acquires the medium ID included in the code image from the code image generation unit 34. Then, the management information generation unit 37 generates management information by associating these with each other, and delivers the management information to the transmission unit 38 (step 307). At this time, in the present embodiment, the same number of second electronic documents as the number of print copies has been generated, so that the medium ID is associated with the second electronic document for each set of print documents.
Thereafter, the transmission unit 38 transmits this management information to the server 20 (step 308). Then, management information is stored in the server 20.

Here, the code pattern that is the basis of the code image generated in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the code pattern.
First, the bit pattern constituting the code pattern will be described.
FIG. 7A shows an example of bit pattern arrangement.
A bit pattern is the minimum unit of information embedding. Here, as shown in FIG. 7A, bits are arranged at two locations selected from nine locations. In the figure, black squares indicate positions where bits are arranged, and hatched squares indicate positions where bits are not arranged. There are 36 (= ₉ C ₂ ) combinations for selecting 2 locations out of 9 locations. Therefore, 36 kinds (about 5.2 bits) of information can be expressed by such an arrangement method.

Incidentally, the minimum square shown in FIG. 7A has a size of 2 dots × 2 dots at 600 dpi. Since the size of one dot at 600 dpi is 0.0423 mm, one side of this minimum square is 84.6 μm (= 0.0423 mm × 2). The larger the dots that make up the code pattern, the more likely it is to be noticeable. However, if it is too small, printing with a printer becomes impossible. Therefore, the above value is adopted as the dot size, which is larger than 50 μm and smaller than 100 μm. Thereby, it is possible to form dots of an optimum size that can be printed by the printer. That is, 84.6 μm × 84.6 μm is the minimum size that can be stably formed by the printer.
In addition, by setting the dot to such a size, one side of one bit pattern becomes about 0.5 mm (= 0.0423 mm × 2 × 6).

A code pattern composed of such bit patterns will be described.
FIG. 7B shows an example of the arrangement of code patterns.
Here, the minimum square shown in FIG. 7B corresponds to the bit pattern shown in FIG. In FIG. 7A, it has been described that 36 kinds of information can be expressed by one bit pattern. However, in this code pattern, one bit pattern has 32 kinds (5 bits) except for a synchronous code. It shall represent information.

The identification code obtained by encoding the identification information is embedded using 16 (= 4 × 4) bit patterns. Also, the X position code obtained by encoding the position information in the X direction and the Y position code obtained by encoding the position information in the Y direction are each embedded using four bit patterns. Further, a synchronization code for detecting the position and rotation of the code pattern is embedded in the upper left corner using one bit pattern.
Note that the size of one code pattern is approximately 2.5 mm because it is equal to the width of five bit patterns. In the present embodiment, a code image obtained by imaging the code pattern generated in this way is arranged on the entire sheet surface.

Next, processing for encoding identification information and position information and generating a code image from the encoded information will be described. This process is executed by the code image generation unit 14 (see FIG. 3) in step 104 (see FIG. 4) in the case of the client 10, and the code image generation unit 34 (see FIG. 5) in the case of the image forming apparatus 30. Is executed in step 304 (see FIG. 6).
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining such encoding and image generation processing.
First, encoding of identification information will be described.
For encoding the identification information, an RS (Reed Solomon) code of a block encoding method is used. As described with reference to FIG. 7, in this embodiment, information is embedded using a bit pattern that can represent 5-bit information. Accordingly, since an information error also occurs in units of 5 bits, an RS code having good coding efficiency is used in the block coding method. However, the encoding method is not limited to the RS code, and other encoding methods such as a BCH code can also be used.

As described above, in the present embodiment, information is embedded using a bit pattern having an information amount of 5 bits. Therefore, the block length of the RS code needs to be 5 bits. For this reason, the identification information is divided into blocks of 5 bits. In FIG. 8, a first block “00111” and a second block “01101” are cut out from the identification information “0011101101001.
Then, RS coding processing is performed on the identification information that has been blocked. In FIG. 8, “blk1”, “blk2”, “blk3”, “blk4”,... Are blocked and then RS-encoded.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the identification information is divided into 16 (= 4 × 4) blocks. Therefore, the number of code blocks in the RS code can be 16. Further, the number of information blocks can be designed according to an error occurrence state. For example, if the number of information blocks is 8, RS (16, 8) code is obtained. This code can correct even if an error of 4 blocks (= (16−8) / 2) occurs in the encoded information. Moreover, if the position of the error can be specified, the correction capability can be further improved. In this case, the amount of information stored in the information block is 40 bits (= 5 bits × 8 blocks). Therefore, about 1 trillion kinds of identification information can be expressed.

Next, encoding of position information will be described.
For encoding the position information, an M-sequence code, which is a kind of pseudo-random sequence, is used. Here, the M sequence is a sequence of the maximum period that can be generated by a K-stage linear shift register, and has a sequence length of 2 ^K −1. Arbitrary consecutive K bits extracted from the M sequence have a property that they do not appear at other positions in the same M sequence. Therefore, the position information can be encoded by using this property.

By the way, in the present embodiment, a necessary M-sequence order is obtained from the length of position information to be encoded, and an M-sequence is generated. However, if the length of the position information to be encoded is known in advance, it is not necessary to generate the M sequence each time. That is, a fixed M sequence may be generated in advance and stored in a memory or the like.
For example, it is assumed that an M sequence (K = 13) having a sequence length of 8191 is used.
In this case, since the position information is also embedded in units of 5 bits, 5 bits are extracted from the M series having a sequence length of 8191 and blocked. In FIG. 8, the M sequence “11010011011010...” Is divided into blocks of 5 bits.

  Thus, in the present embodiment, different encoding methods are used for position information and identification information. This is because it is necessary to set the detection capability of identification information to be higher than the detection capability of position information. That is, since the position information is information for acquiring the position of the paper surface, even if there is a part that cannot be decoded due to noise or the like, the part is lost and does not affect the other part. On the other hand, if the identification information fails to be decoded, it is impossible to detect a target reflecting the writing information. Further, with such a configuration, it is possible to minimize the image reading range when decoding the position information and the identification information. That is, if an encoding method having a boundary such as an RS code is used for position information, it is necessary to read the code between the boundaries when decoding it, so the range for reading the image is shown in FIG. The area needs to be twice as large as the area. However, by using the M series, it is possible to have a configuration in which an area having the same size as the area shown in FIG. This is because the position information can be decoded from an arbitrary partial sequence of the M sequence due to the nature of the M sequence. That is, when decoding the identification information and the position information, it is necessary to read the area having the size shown in FIG. 7B, but the read position matches the boundary shown in FIG. 7B. There is no need. The position information can be decoded from a partial series at an arbitrary position of the M series. As the identification information, since the same information is arranged on the entire surface of the sheet, the original information is restored by rearranging the pieces of the read information even if the reading position deviates from the boundary illustrated in FIG. be able to.

  As described above, after the identification information is divided into blocks, it is encoded with an RS code, and when the position information is encoded with an M sequence and then divided into blocks, a block is synthesized as shown in the figure. The That is, these blocks are developed on a two-dimensional plane in the format shown in the figure. The format shown in FIG. 8 corresponds to the format shown in FIG. That is, a black square means a synchronization code. Further, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”,... Arranged in the horizontal direction represent X position codes, and “1”, “2”, “3”, “ 4 ”,... Mean Y position codes. The position code is indicated by a number corresponding to the coordinate position because different information is arranged if the position of the medium is different. On the other hand, a gray square means an identification code. Since the same information is arranged even if the position of the medium is different, the identification codes are all indicated by the same mark.

By the way, as can be seen from the figure, there are four bit patterns between two synchronization codes. Therefore, 20 (= 5 × 4) -bit M-sequence partial sequences can be arranged. If a 13-bit partial sequence is extracted from the 20-bit partial sequence, it is possible to specify which partial sequence in the whole (8191) the 13 bits are. As described above, when 13 bits out of 20 bits are used for specifying the position, it is possible to detect or correct the extracted 13-bit error using the remaining 7 bits. That is, it is possible to detect and correct an error by confirming the 20-bit consistency by using the same generator polynomial as when the M sequence was generated.
Thereafter, the bit pattern in each block is imaged by referring to the dot image. Then, an output image representing information with dots as shown on the rightmost side of FIG. 8 is generated.

Next, management information registered in the server 20 by the processing of the first and second embodiments will be described.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of management information.
As shown in the figure, the management information is managed in a table having a “second document ID” field, a “medium ID” field, and a “second electronic document” field.
In the “second document ID” column, a second document ID for uniquely identifying the second electronic document is registered. The second document ID is assigned separately from the file name of the second electronic document, and is composed of a character string unrelated to the file name.
In the “medium ID” column, a medium ID for uniquely identifying the medium is registered. Here, it is assumed that, when a plurality of copies are designated, all mediums to be printed are assigned different medium IDs.
In the “second electronic document” column, the file name of the second electronic document is registered.

  Here, a case where three copies of the first electronic document consisting of 10 pages are output is illustrated. That is, three second electronic documents “E11.xdw”, “E12.xdw”, and “E13.xdw” are generated from one electronic document. Since the first electronic document includes 10 pages, 10 medium IDs and one second electronic document are associated with each set of print documents.

  In the figure, only the file name is described in the “second electronic document” column, but it may be registered including the storage location of the second electronic document. In this way, the second electronic document can be identified without referring to the second document ID based on the medium ID of the medium on which the writing has been made, so the “second document ID” field is not necessarily provided in this management information. You do n’t have to. Alternatively, a configuration in which the “second electronic document” column is not provided in the management information by separately managing the correspondence between the second document ID and the storage location of the second electronic document is also conceivable.

B. At the time of writing on the medium With the processing described above, the management information as shown in FIG. 9 is registered in the server 20 and written on the medium output from the image forming apparatus 30 with the electronic pen 60. As a result, the writing data obtained by digitizing the writing is added to the second electronic document stored in the server 20.
Therefore, first, the electronic pen 60 used for such writing will be described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the mechanism of the electronic pen 60.
As illustrated, the electronic pen 60 includes a control circuit 61 that controls the operation of the entire pen. The control circuit 61 includes an image processing unit 61a that processes a code image detected from an input image, and a data processing unit 61b that extracts identification information and position information from the processing result there.
The control circuit 61 is connected to a pressure sensor 62 that detects a writing operation by the electronic pen 60 by a pressure applied to the pen tip 69. Further, an infrared LED 63 that irradiates infrared light onto the medium and an infrared CMOS 64 that inputs an image are also connected. Further, an information memory 65 for storing identification information and position information, a communication circuit 66 for communicating with an external device, a battery 67 for driving the pen, and pen identification information (pen ID) are stored. A pen ID memory 68 is also connected.

Here, an outline of the operation of the electronic pen 60 will be described.
When writing with the electronic pen 60 is performed, the pressure sensor 62 connected to the pen tip 69 detects the writing operation. Thereby, the infrared LED 63 is turned on, and the infrared CMOS 64 captures an image on the medium by the CMOS sensor.
The infrared LED 63 is pulsed in synchronization with the shutter timing of the CMOS sensor in order to reduce power consumption.
The infrared CMOS 64 uses a global shutter type CMOS sensor that can simultaneously transfer captured images. A CMOS sensor having sensitivity in the infrared region is used. In order to reduce the influence of disturbance, a visible light cut filter is disposed on the entire surface of the CMOS sensor. The CMOS sensor captures an image with a period of about 70 fps to 100 fps (frame per second). Note that the image sensor is not limited to a CMOS sensor, and other image sensors such as a CCD may be used.

When the captured image is input to the control circuit 61, the control circuit 61 acquires a code image from the captured image. Then, it is decoded to obtain identification information and position information embedded in the code image.
Hereinafter, the operation of the control circuit 61 at this time will be described.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control circuit 61.
First, the image processing unit 61a inputs an image (step 601). Then, processing for removing noise included in the image is performed (step 602). Here, the noise includes variations in CMOS sensitivity, noise generated by an electronic circuit, and the like. What processing is performed to remove noise should be determined according to the characteristics of the imaging system of the electronic pen 60. For example, sharpening processing such as blurring processing or unsharp masking can be applied.

Next, the image processing unit 61a detects a dot pattern (the position of the dot image) from the image (step 603). For example, the dot pattern portion and the background portion are separated by binarization processing, and the dot pattern can be detected from each binarized image position. When a binarized image contains a lot of noise components, for example, it is necessary to combine a filter process for determining a dot pattern based on the area and shape of the binarized image.
In addition, the image processing unit 61a converts the detected dot pattern into digital data on a two-dimensional array (step 604). For example, on a two-dimensional array, a position where there is a dot is converted to “1”, and a position where there is no dot is converted to “0”. Then, the digital data on this two-dimensional array is transferred from the image processing unit 61a to the data processing unit 61b.

Next, the data processing unit 61b detects a bit pattern including a combination of two dots shown in FIG. 7A from the received digital data (step 605). For example, the bit pattern can be detected by moving the boundary position of the block corresponding to the bit pattern on the two-dimensional array and detecting the boundary position so that the number of dots included in the block is two. .
When the bit pattern is detected in this way, the data processing unit 61b detects the synchronization code by referring to the type of the bit pattern (step 606). Then, the identification code and the position code are detected based on the positional relationship from the synchronization code (step 607).
Thereafter, the data processing unit 61b decodes the identification code to obtain identification information, and decodes the position code to obtain position information (step 608). About an identification code, identification information is obtained by performing RS decoding process. On the other hand, for the position code, position information is obtained by comparing the position of the read partial series with the M series used at the time of image generation.

Thereafter, the electronic pen 60 transmits the identification information (medium ID) and position information (coordinates) acquired in this way to the client 50. As a result, the client 50 transmits the medium ID and coordinates to the server 20, and the server 20 adds the writing data to the second electronic document.
Therefore, the functional configuration of the server 20 will be described.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the server 20.
As illustrated, the server 20 includes a management information storage unit 21, a document storage unit 22, a reception unit 23, a document specification unit 24, a writing addition unit 25, and a transmission unit 26.
The management information storage unit 21 stores management information sent from the client 10 or the image forming apparatus 30.
The document storage unit 22 stores the second electronic document sent from the client 10 or the image forming apparatus 30.
The receiving unit 23 receives the medium ID and coordinates from the client 50.
The document identification unit 24 retrieves management information based on the medium ID to identify a second electronic document that is a target for reflecting the writing data.
The writing adding unit 25 adds writing data to the specified second electronic document.
The transmission unit 26 notifies the client 50 of a signal reporting that the addition of writing data to the second electronic document is completed (hereinafter referred to as “addition completion report”).

  These functions are realized by cooperation between software and hardware resources. Specifically, a CPU (not shown) of the server 20 reads and executes a program for realizing the receiving unit 23, the document specifying unit 24, the writing adding unit 25, and the transmitting unit 26 from, for example, a magnetic disk device to the main memory. These functions are realized. Further, the management information storage unit 21 and the document storage unit 22 can be realized by using, for example, a magnetic disk device. Furthermore, the program and data stored in the magnetic disk device may be loaded from a recording medium such as a CD, or may be downloaded via a network such as the Internet.

Next, the operation of the server 20 when adding written data to the second electronic document will be described.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the server 20 at this time.
In the server 20, first, the receiving unit 23 receives the medium ID and coordinates, and passes these pieces of information to the document specifying unit 24 (step 201).
Then, the document identification unit 24 refers to the management information stored in the management information storage unit 21 and identifies the second electronic document to which writing data is to be added based on the medium ID (step 202). Then, the document specifying unit 24 passes information for specifying the second electronic document to the writing adding unit 25.
Thereby, the writing adding unit 25 reads the specified second electronic document from the document storage unit 22, and adds writing data composed of the coordinates received by the receiving unit 23 to the second electronic document. Then, the second electronic document to which the writing data is added is written back to the document storage unit 22 (step 203). Then, the writing addition unit 25 informs the transmission unit 26 to that effect.
Thereby, the transmission unit 26 transmits an addition completion report to the client 50 (step 204).

  In the present embodiment, the server 20 holds the second electronic document for reflecting the written data, and performs the process of adding the written data to the second electronic document. However, for example, the client 50 can perform the same operation. In this case, FIG. 12 can be considered as showing the functional configuration of the client 50, and FIG. 13 can be considered as showing the operation of the client 50. However, when the client 50 performs the same operation, it is not necessary to transmit an addition completion report to the outside in step 204.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the document management apparatus that generates the second electronic document from the first electronic document and the writing processing apparatus that adds the writing data to the second electronic document are replaced with the system shown in FIG. It can be done in several devices that make up. Therefore, these devices are assumed to be realized by a general computer 90, and the hardware configuration of the computer 90 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the computer 90.
As shown in the figure, the computer 90 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91 that is a calculation means, a main memory 92 that is a storage means, and a magnetic disk device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 93. Here, the CPU 91 executes various software such as an OS (Operating System) and an application, and realizes each function described above. The main memory 92 is a storage area for storing various software and data used for execution thereof, and the magnetic disk device 93 is a storage area for storing input data for various software, output data from various software, and the like. .
Further, the computer 90 includes a communication I / F 94 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 95 including a video memory and a display, and an input device 96 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

This is the end of the description of the present embodiment.
In the present embodiment, the same number of second electronic documents as the number of copies are generated from the first electronic document to be printed to reflect the writing data. However, the number of second electronic documents to be generated may not be the same as the number of print copies.
For example, assuming that a second electronic document for reflecting writing on the medium on which the page is printed is generated for each page constituting the first electronic document, the number of copies of the first electronic document is The number of second electronic documents multiplied by the number of pages is generated.
In addition, when it is guaranteed that writing is not performed on the M copies of the N copies of the printed document 40, (NM) second electronic documents may be generated. Good. For example, when a conference is held, when the materials for the presenter and the participant are output, it is not assumed that the presenter himself / herself writes in the material.
That is, the number of second electronic documents generated in the present embodiment may be determined according to the relationship with the number of print copies. In other words, it is “a number corresponding to the number of copies to be printed”.

In the present embodiment, the timing for generating the same number of second electronic documents as the number of copies is set at the time of printing. On the other hand, a configuration in which not all the second electronic documents having the same number as the number of copies is generated at the time of printing but all or a part of the second electronic documents is generated when writing is considered.
However, in the present embodiment, the former configuration is employed for the following reason, and the latter configuration is not employed.
That is, in order to generate the second electronic document when writing is performed, at least one second electronic document or setting information at the time of printing is stored, and the writing is performed when writing is performed. It is necessary to newly generate a second electronic document from the obtained information. This is because it takes time until the writing on the print document 40 is reflected in the second electronic document, and the processing efficiency cannot be improved.

  However, from the viewpoint of improving the efficiency of the writing process, the timing for generating the second electronic document from the first electronic document does not have to be when the first electronic document is printed. The second electronic document only needs to be created in advance so that the written data can be reflected when written by the user. Alternatively, the second electronic document may be created at a predetermined time until the user writes on the medium. Normally, the system cannot know when the writing is made after the print document 40 is output. Therefore, a signal indicating that writing is not performed on the printed document 40, for example, that writing is to be started is transmitted to the system, and a second electronic document is generated when the signal is received. You may do it.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the second electronic document is generated with the same layout as when the first electronic document is printed. However, it is not necessary to have the exact same layout. Even if there is a slight difference between the layout when the first electronic document is printed and the layout of the second electronic document, complicated conversion processing is required due to the difference when the user writes on the medium. If not, it ’s good. For example, the configuration may require a conversion process that is about the enlargement / reduction.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the medium ID is included in the code image, printed on the medium, and the correspondence relationship between the medium ID and the second electronic document is managed by the management information, so that Two electronic documents can be specified. However, information specifying the second electronic document may be directly included in the code image. In this case, the second electronic document is directly accessed based on the information acquired from the code image without referring to the management information.

  Furthermore, the present embodiment has been described on the assumption that handwritten data is directly added to the second electronic document. However, the configuration may be such that the information specifying the second electronic document and the written data are related on the database. Alternatively, the information specifying the second electronic document and the writing data may be integrally held as a file. That is, any technique can be used as long as it is a technique in which the writing data and the second electronic document are associated with each other and the second electronic document and the writing data can be superimposed and displayed as necessary.

It is the figure which showed the system configuration | structure with which embodiment of this invention is applied. It is a figure for demonstrating the outline | summary of embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structure of the client in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement of the client in embodiment of this invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image forming apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the code pattern produced | generated by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the encoding of the information in the embodiment of this invention, and the production | generation of a code image. It is the figure which showed an example of the management information produced | generated by embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the mechanism of the electronic pen in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the electronic pen in embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structure of the server in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement of the server in embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed the hardware constitutions of the computer which implement | achieves the document management apparatus and writing processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Client, 20 ... Server, 30 ... Image forming apparatus, 40 ... Print document, 50 ... Client, 60 ... Electronic pen, 70 ... Network

Claims (16)

Recognizing means for recognizing the number of copies designated when printing the first electronic document;
Generating means for generating a number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies to reflect writing data obtained by digitizing writing on the medium on which the first electronic document is printed. Document management device.   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates the second electronic document in which a print image on the medium on which the first electronic document is printed is reflected.   The document management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the generation unit generates the second electronic document in which the change of the print image is restricted.   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates the same number of the second electronic documents as the number of print copies.   The document management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates the second electronic document by a number obtained by multiplying the number of copies by the number of pages of the first electronic document.   An instruction for printing the first electronic document, and information for specifying a second electronic document to which the writing data should be reflected, out of the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies. 2. The document management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising transmission means for transmitting. Printing means for printing the first electronic document;
And a transmission unit configured to transmit information for specifying the second electronic document to which the writing data is to be reflected from the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies to be printed. Item 1. The document management apparatus according to Item 1.   The storage device further includes a storage unit that stores the writing data in association with the second electronic document that reflects the writing data out of the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies. Item 1. The document management apparatus according to Item 1. Management means for managing information for specifying the second electronic document reflecting the written data from the identification information of the medium;
A specifying unit for specifying a second electronic document that reflects the writing data based on the identification information of the medium printed on the medium by referring to the information managed by the management unit; The document management apparatus according to claim 8.   9. The document according to claim 8, further comprising a specifying unit that specifies a second electronic document that reflects the writing data based on identification information of the second electronic document printed on the medium. Management device. Recognizing means for recognizing the number of copies designated when printing the first electronic document;
An identification information generating apparatus comprising: generating means for generating different identification information for each medium as identification information of the same number of media as the number of copies to be printed on the same page of the first electronic document . On the computer,
A function of recognizing the number of copies designated when printing the first electronic document;
A program for realizing a function of generating a number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies to reflect writing data obtained by digitizing writing on a medium on which the first electronic document is printed.   13. The program according to claim 12, wherein the generating function generates the second electronic document reflecting a print image on the medium on which the first electronic document is printed.   13. The program according to claim 12, wherein the function to generate generates the same number of the second electronic documents as the number of print copies.   13. The program according to claim 12, wherein the generating function generates the second electronic document by a number obtained by multiplying the number of copies by the number of pages of the first electronic document.   The computer further has a function of associating the writing data with a second electronic document reflecting the writing data of the number of second electronic documents corresponding to the number of copies to be stored in a predetermined storage device. The program according to claim 12.

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