JP2008092445A - Image transmitting apparatus, control method thereof and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an image transmitting apparatus to suitably operate even in a case where required read conditions are not coincident among devices of transmission destinations, when transmitting image data to the plurality of transmission destinations. <P>SOLUTION: An image transmitting apparatus 100 is enabled to acquire read conditions of an image to be transmitted for each transmission destination of image data, to generate entire maximum information quantity conditions selecting a condition on which image data with the maximum quantity of information can be obtained, from among all the acquired read conditions for each item (S42), and to acquire image data corresponding to the read conditions for each transmission destination by working image data obtained by reading on the condition (S45). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus that transmits image data read by an image reading unit to a plurality of external apparatuses that can communicate via a network, a control method for such an image transmission apparatus, and such an image transmission apparatus. The present invention relates to a program that is executed by a computer that controls the computer.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image transmission apparatus that transmits read image data to an external apparatus that can communicate via a network is known.
As such an image transmission device, for example, as described in Patent Document 1, a scan condition such as a reading resolution sent in advance from an image transmission destination client device is stored, and the scan condition is selected, and the client There is known a network scanner device that reads an image under a stored condition and transmits it to the client terminal when a password set for each terminal is input.

Further, Patent Document 1 includes an operation panel for specifying a scan condition and a transfer destination client terminal from a menu so that an image read under the scan condition specified by the operation panel can be transmitted to a transfer destination specified by the operation panel. A network scanner device is also described.
Also, a network scanner that uses a TWAIN driver compatible with a network connection as described in Patent Document 2 and performs reading by setting a reading condition on the image transmission apparatus from the information processing apparatus side that is the transmission destination of the image data is also known. It has been.
Japanese Patent No. 3621180 JP 2005-12829 A

Incidentally, in recent years, when an image read by an image transmission apparatus is transmitted to an information processing apparatus such as a PC (personal computer), the image transmission apparatus side accesses the transmission destination apparatus to request an image requested by the apparatus. The reading conditions can also be acquired.
If such a function is provided in the image transmission device, the image transmission device automatically reads an image under conditions suitable for the transmission destination device without performing any operation on the transmission destination device side. Since the image data read by reading can be transmitted, the operability of the image transmission apparatus can be improved.

  Further, even if there are a mixture of devices that do not have a function of transmitting a reading condition in response to access from the image transmitting device side as a transmission destination, if the user manually sets the reading condition for the image transmitting device, The image transmission apparatus can use the reading conditions. Furthermore, since the facsimile apparatus and the apparatus corresponding to the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) can exchange the device capability between the transmission source and the transmission destination, when such a device is the transmission destination, Therefore, it is necessary to transmit image data in a format that can be received by the capability of the transmission destination device.

  When any of a plurality of devices can be designated as a transmission destination from such a device, there may be a case where the set reading conditions do not match between the transmission destination devices. In such a case, if the image transmission device cannot properly cope with it, there is a problem that appropriate image data cannot be transmitted to the transmission destination, and the convenience of the image transmission device is impaired. In the past, there has been no known control method for performing an appropriate operation when there is such a mismatch.

  The present invention solves such a problem, and when the image transmission apparatus transmits image data to a plurality of transmission destinations, even if the reading conditions required between the transmission destination apparatuses do not match, The purpose is to enable proper operation.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image transmission apparatus according to the present invention includes an image transmission means for transmitting image data read by the image reading means to an external apparatus capable of communicating via a network in the image transmission apparatus, and an image For a plurality of external devices that are data transmission destinations, a reading condition acquisition unit that acquires a reading condition of an image to be transmitted for each external device, and all the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit for each item The condition generating means for generating the overall maximum information amount condition that selects the condition for obtaining the image data with the most information amount, and processing the image data obtained by reading under some reading condition, and other reading conditions In the image processing means for generating image data that would have been obtained if the same object was read in The image data to be is provided with a means for obtaining the image data corresponding to each reading conditions by processing in the image processing means the reading condition acquisition unit has acquired.

  In such an image transmission device, the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit are compared, and the reading conditions in which the magnitude relation of the amount of information of the obtained image data matches in all items are set as the reading condition group. When the group generation unit to associate and the group generation unit generate a plurality of reading condition groups, based on the estimation of the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, transmission to each of the transmission destinations Necessary image data is generated by processing image data obtained by performing a single reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, or the image data with the most information amount in the group for the plurality of reading condition groups. Reading condition determining means for determining whether to process and generate a plurality of image data obtained by performing reading according to the obtained reading conditions The may be provided.

  Further, according to the determination by the reading condition determining means, the order of the reading conditions used for reading, and the processing and transmission procedure of the image data obtained by reading according to each reading condition, sequentially processing the image data obtained by reading, Transmission procedure determining means for determining that image data with a smaller amount of information can be acquired and transmitted, and when reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined by the transmission procedure determining means, It is preferable to provide a discarding unit that discards the image data when all necessary processes are completed in the transmission and the processing of the image data.

  Alternatively, in order to follow the determination by the reading condition determining unit, the transmission procedure determining unit determines that it is necessary to process certain image data and generate image data corresponding to the reading conditions of a plurality of reading condition groups. In this case, it is preferable to provide means for creating a procedure for generating image data corresponding to the reading conditions of the plurality of reading condition groups from the certain image data.

  In addition, when image data is read, processed, and transmitted according to the procedure determined by the transmission procedure determination means, if transmission retry is necessary, or if there is a margin in the memory capacity for storing the image data The image data for which transmission is retried is stored in the memory until the retry is performed, and if there is not enough space in the memory, the image data for which transmission is retried is used as image data used in a later procedure. It is preferable to provide means for rearranging image data processing and transmission procedures so that the image data can be generated again.

  Further, when the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition is estimated to be equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the reading condition determination unit is configured to store the image data necessary for transmission to each of the transmission destinations. It may be a means for deciding to process and generate a plurality of image data.

  Alternatively, when the difference obtained by subtracting the sum of the sizes of the plurality of image data from the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition is estimated to be a predetermined threshold value or more, The image data necessary for transmission to each of the transmission destinations may be a means for determining that the plurality of pieces of image data are to be generated.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for an image transmission apparatus having image transmission means for transmitting image data read by the image reading means to an external apparatus capable of communicating via a network. In the image transmission device, for a plurality of external devices to which image data is transmitted, a reading condition acquisition procedure for acquiring a reading condition of an image to be transmitted for each external device, and the reading condition acquisition procedure for each item A condition generation procedure that generates the overall maximum information amount condition that selects the condition that can obtain the image data with the largest amount of information among all the acquired reading conditions, and the image data obtained by reading under some reading conditions is processed And an image processing procedure for generating image data that would have been obtained if the same object was read under other reading conditions, The image data obtained by reading by the body maximum information amount condition by processing by the image processing procedure is obtained so as to generate image data corresponding to each read conditions acquired the read condition acquisition means.

  In such a control method of the image transmission apparatus, the image transmission apparatus is compared with the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit, and the magnitude relationship of the information amount of the obtained image data matches in all items. A group generation procedure that associates a reading condition as a reading condition group, and when a plurality of reading condition groups are generated by the group generation procedure, based on the estimation of the size of image data obtained by reading with the above-mentioned overall maximum information amount condition The image data required for transmission to each of the transmission destinations is generated by processing image data obtained by performing one reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, or within a group for a plurality of reading condition groups And processing and generating a plurality of image data obtained by performing reading according to reading conditions that can obtain image data with the largest amount of information. , It may be so to execute a reading condition determination procedure to determine.

  Furthermore, the image transmission apparatus is configured to read the order of the reading conditions used for reading and the processing and transmission procedure of the image data obtained by reading according to each reading condition in accordance with the determination in the reading condition determining procedure. When the image data is read, processed, and transmitted according to the procedure determined in the transmission procedure determination procedure and the procedure determined in the transmission procedure determination procedure, in which the data is processed sequentially and the image data with a smaller amount of information is acquired and transmitted. In addition, when all necessary processing is completed among transmission of certain image data and processing of the image data, a discarding procedure for discarding the image data may be executed.

  Alternatively, in order to follow the determination in the reading condition determination procedure in the transmission procedure determination procedure, it is determined that it is necessary to process certain image data and generate image data corresponding to the reading conditions of a plurality of reading condition groups. In this case, a procedure for creating a procedure for generating image data corresponding to the reading conditions of the plurality of reading condition groups from the certain image data may be provided.

  Further, when the image transmission apparatus needs to retry transmission when reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined in the transmission procedure determination procedure, the capacity of the memory for storing the image data is increased. If there is room, the image data to be retried is stored in the memory until the retry is performed. If there is not enough space in the memory, the image data to be retried is sent to a later time. It is preferable to execute a procedure for rearranging the processing and transmission procedure of the image data so that the image data used in the procedure can be processed and generated again.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for controlling an image transmitting apparatus having an image transmitting means for transmitting image data read by an image reading means to an external apparatus capable of communicating via a network. A plurality of external devices, a reading condition acquisition unit that acquires a reading condition of an image transmitted for each external device, and, for each of the items, among all the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit Condition generation means for generating the overall maximum information amount condition that selects the conditions for obtaining image data with a large amount of information, and processing the image data obtained by reading under some reading conditions, and the same target under other reading conditions Obtained by image processing means for generating image data that would have been obtained by reading, and reading by the above-mentioned maximum maximum information amount condition. The image data is a program for functioning as a means for obtaining image data corresponding to each read condition by processing to the image processing means obtains the above reading condition acquisition unit that.

  In such a program, the computer compares the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition means, and sets the reading conditions in which the magnitude relationship of the amount of information of the obtained image data matches in all items. A group generation unit to be associated as a group, and when the group generation unit generates a plurality of reading condition groups, based on the estimation of the size of image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, Image data required for transmission is generated by processing image data obtained by performing one reading under the above-mentioned maximum maximum information amount condition, or an image having the largest amount of information in the group with respect to a plurality of reading condition groups. Decide whether to process and generate multiple image data obtained by performing reading according to the reading conditions from which data is obtained It may include a program to function as a reading condition determining means.

  Furthermore, if the computer needs to retry transmission when reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined by the transmission procedure determining means, the memory capacity for storing the image data has a margin. In some cases, image data to be retried for transmission is stored in the memory until the retry is performed, and if there is not enough space in the memory, the image data to be retried for transmission is stored in a later procedure. A program for causing the image data to be used to function as means for rearranging the processing and transmission procedures of the image data may be included so that the image data to be used can be generated again.

According to the image transmission apparatus or the image transmission apparatus control method of the present invention as described above, when the image transmission apparatus transmits image data to a plurality of transmission destinations, it is requested between the transmission destination apparatuses. Even when the reading conditions do not match, an appropriate operation can be performed.
Further, according to the program of the present invention, it is possible to cause the computer to control the image transmitting apparatus to realize its characteristics and obtain the same effect.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
First, FIG. 1 shows a hardware configuration of an image transmission apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in this figure, the image transmission apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, HDD (hard disk drive) 104, operation panel 105, communication I / F 106, and scanner engine 107, which are connected by a system bus 108. ing.

Among them, the CPU 101 is a control unit that performs overall control of the entire image transmission apparatus 100. By executing various programs recorded in the ROM 102 and the HDD 104, a reading condition acquisition unit, a condition generation unit, an image processing unit, and the like. It functions as each means.
The ROM 102 is a non-volatile storage unit that stores programs executed by the CPU 101, fixed parameters, and the like. The ROM 102 may be configured as a rewritable storage means so that these data can be updated.

The RAM 103 is storage means for storing temporarily used data or as work memory for the CPU 101.
The HDD 104 stores various data such as a program executed by the CPU 101, parameter values that need to be retained even after the apparatus is turned off, and image data read by the scanner engine 107. Instead of the HDD 104, other storage means such as an optical disk may be used for this purpose.

  The operation panel 105 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a light emitting diode (LED), and an operation unit including various keys, buttons, and a touch panel stacked on the LCD. The display unit displays an operation state of the image transmission apparatus 100, setting contents, a message, a GUI (graphical user interface) for accepting an operation, and the like. A user operation on the image transmission apparatus 100 is displayed on the operation unit. An operation such as an instruction or a setting instruction is accepted. Of course, the operation unit and the display unit do not have to be provided integrally.

  The communication I / F 106 is an interface for enabling the image transmission apparatus 100 to communicate with other apparatuses via some communication path. For example, the communication I / F 106 is connected to a network such as a LAN (local area network) 300 and the like (registered). (Trademark) type network interface for communication. When the image transmission apparatus 100 communicates with another apparatus, the communication I / F 106 and the CPU 101 function as a communication unit. Note that an appropriate communication I / F 106 is prepared according to the standard of the communication path, the communication protocol to be used, and the like. The communication path may be arbitrary regardless of wired / wireless, and it is naturally possible to provide a plurality of communication I / Fs 106 corresponding to a plurality of standards.

  The scanner engine 107 is an image reading unit that reads an image of a document placed on a reading table or loaded on a reading unit by an automatic document feeder (ADF) and acquires image data indicating the image. . Then, in response to a request from the CPU 101, reading can be performed under reading conditions such as a specified document size, resolution, and gradation.

  The image transmission apparatus 100 as described above is configured as, for example, a network scanner, reads an image of a document by the scanner engine 107 in accordance with an operation from a user, and uses the LAN 300 or the Internet 400 as image data obtained by the reading. Can be transmitted to a plurality of external information processing devices 200a, 200b, 200c, and 200d (generally, reference numeral 200 is used). The image processing apparatus 100 and the information processing apparatus 200 that is the transmission destination of the image data can be considered to constitute an image processing system.

Further, when transmitting image data to the information processing apparatus 200, the image transmission apparatus 100 accesses the information processing apparatus 200, which is the transmission destination of the image data, acquires the image reading conditions from here, and follows the conditions. The image data obtained (should be) obtained by scanning can be transmitted. At this time, the reading condition is acquired by T.F. This includes exchanging information on the capabilities of each other prior to data transmission / reception and acquiring information in a data format that can be processed by the other party, as performed by communication using the 30 system, SIP, or the like.
If the information processing apparatus 200 does not have a function for providing a reading condition in response to an access from the image transmitting apparatus 100, image data according to the reading condition set on the image processing apparatus 100 side is stored. Can be sent.

The information processing apparatus 200 can be configured by a known computer such as a PC (personal computer) having a CPU, ROM, RAM, HDD, network I / F, and the like as hardware. It is also conceivable to configure as a facsimile machine having an image data receiving function.
Although not essential for the information processing apparatus 200, when the power is turned on, the image transmission apparatus 100 is notified of its presence so that the image transmission apparatus 100 can recognize each other's existence. In addition, a function for registering the image transmission apparatus 100 as an available network scanner may be provided.

Next, the functions of the image transmission apparatus 100 and the information processing apparatus 200 and the operations performed by these apparatuses will be described focusing on the above-described portions related to the setting of the reading conditions and the transmission of image data.
First, FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of portions related to setting of reading conditions and transmission of image data in the image transmission device 100 and the information processing device 200.

  As shown in this figure, the image transmission apparatus 100 includes an image transmission application 110, a panel control unit 120, a communication management unit 131, and a reading control unit as functional units having functions related to setting of reading conditions and transmission of image data. 132, a storage device 133, and an image processing unit 134. The functions of these units are realized by the CPU 101 executing appropriate control software. However, the storage device 133 is realized by hardware such as the RAM 103 and the HDD 104.

  Among these, the panel control unit 120, the communication management unit 131, and the reading control unit 132 are service modules having functions for controlling the operation panel 105, the communication I / F 106, and the scanner engine 107 shown in FIG. . Then, in response to a request from an application having the hardware control right, the hardware is controlled to perform an operation according to the request, or to pass received or detected data to the application.

  More specifically, the panel control unit 120 detects an operation on the operation unit, and controls the operation reception unit 121 that transmits the operation content to an application having the control right of the operation panel 105, and the display unit to control the operation. A display control unit 122 that displays contents instructed by an application having the control right of the panel 105.

The communication management unit 131 transmits the data requested to be transmitted from the application to the designated transmission destination by the communication I / F 106 and attaches the data transmitted from the external device to the communication I / F 106 to the data. In accordance with the received destination information and the contents of the data, etc., the data is passed to the application to be processed.
In response to a request from an application having control authority for the scanner engine 107, the reading control unit 132 controls the scanner engine 107 to read an image of a document according to a specified reading condition, and reads image data obtained by the reading. Has a function to pass to the application.

  The image processing unit 134 is an image processing unit that performs processing instructed by the transmission data management unit 117 on the read image data stored in the storage device 133, and corresponds to other reading conditions. It has a function to generate data. At this time, there are a case where image data before processing is stored and a case where only image data after processing is stored in the storage device 133.

  On the other hand, the image transmission application 110 makes various requests to the service modules such as the panel control unit 120, the communication management unit 131, and the reading control unit 132 to control the hardware, thereby allowing the user in the image transmission apparatus 100. This is an application for realizing a function of reading an image of a document in accordance with the instruction, processing the image as necessary, and transmitting the image to a designated transmission destination. Here, only the image transmission application 110 is provided as an application. However, other applications can be provided, and in order to do so, an arbitration unit that arbitrates requests from the application to the service module may be provided. .

The image transmission application 110 includes a transmission destination storage unit 111, a transmission destination condition acquisition unit 112, a device-side condition storage unit 113, a condition comparison unit 114, a transmission procedure determination unit 115, a reading execution unit 116, and a transmission data management unit 117. It has a function.
Among these, the transmission destination storage unit 111 has a function of storing destination information indicating a transmission destination of image data. As the destination information, information regarding a plurality of destinations can be set. Specifically, for example, an IP address, an e-mail address, a telephone number, etc. may be specified. It is possible to make it possible. Further, the destination information can be set by operating the operation panel 105, or from an external device (which may be the information processing device 200) capable of communicating via a network, an image transmission device using a web browser or client software. 100 may be set by accessing 100.

  The transmission destination condition acquisition unit 112 is a reading condition acquisition unit. When transmitting image data to an external device, the transmission destination condition acquisition unit 112 accesses the external device of the transmission destination via the communication management unit 131 and is set in the external device. It has a function to acquire information on reading conditions. This reading condition is set on the external device side as a reading condition that should be set at the time of reading the image data related to the transmission in the device that transmits the image data, or transmitted at the start of communication On the basis of information on the capability of the device notified from the destination device, contents that are considered appropriate for processing on the other side may be defined. When a plurality of transmission destinations are set, the reading condition is acquired from each transmission destination.

  The device-side condition storage unit 113 has a function of storing reading conditions set on the image transmitting apparatus 100 side. This reading condition is used when the destination device does not have a function for notifying the reading condition, or when notifying that the reading condition is not specified. 105, a web browser, client software, or the like.

  The condition comparison unit 114 acquires the reading conditions corresponding to each transmission destination from the transmission destination condition acquisition unit 112 and the device-side condition storage unit 113 when transmitting image data transmission to a plurality of transmission destinations. The information used to compare the reading conditions and determine the processing procedure to be performed for transmitting the image data to each transmission destination is extracted, and the information is transmitted together with the information on the transmission destination and the reading conditions. It has a function of passing to the determination unit 115.

Then, the transmission procedure determination unit 115 determines a processing procedure to be performed for transmitting appropriate image data to each transmission destination based on the information passed from the condition comparison unit 114, and the reading execution unit 116 according to the procedure. The transmission data management unit 117 is controlled to perform operations such as reading, processing, and transmission of image data.
This embodiment is characterized by a determination method for determining a processing procedure for image data transmission by the condition comparison unit 114 and the transmission procedure determination unit 115, and an operation at the time of executing the processing according to the determined procedure. This point will be described later in detail.

Further, the reading execution unit 116 has a function of setting the reading condition notified from the transmission procedure determining unit 115 in the reading control unit 132 according to the processing procedure determined by the transmission procedure determining unit 115 and reading the image of the document. Have. The read image data is stored in the storage device 133.
The transmission data management unit 117 manages image data obtained by reading or processing, and performs image processing according to the processing procedure determined by the transmission procedure determination unit 115 and the reading conditions and transmission destination information notified from the transmission procedure determination unit 115. The processing unit 134 has a function of processing image data, and the communication management unit 131 has a function of transmitting image data.

In addition, as described above, there are various types of information processing apparatus 200, but FIG. 2 shows three types as representatives.
The first type is information processing apparatuses 200a and 200b having a function of providing a reading condition in response to an access from the image transmission apparatus 100.
These apparatuses include a communication management unit 201, a storage unit 202, and a reading condition management unit 203 as functional units having functions related to setting of reading conditions and reception of image data. The functions of these units are realized by the CPU of the information processing apparatus 200 executing appropriate control software.

The communication management unit 201 has a function of controlling communication I / F and managing data communication with external devices such as the image transmission device 100.
The storage unit 202 controls storage means such as a RAM and an HDD, and stores data received from an external device, data generated by the information processing apparatus 200 itself, data input by an input device such as a keyboard (not shown), and the like. It has a function. This data includes the image data received from the image transmission apparatus 100, the request, and the notification, and the contents of the reading conditions on the information processing apparatus 200 side.

  The reading condition management unit 203 manages reading conditions on the information processing apparatus 200 side, that is, conditions set as conditions that should be set when reading image data related to the transmission in the apparatus that transmits the image data. When the setting or changing of the condition is instructed by the user's operation or automatically, it has a function of changing the contents stored in the storage unit 202 in accordance with the instruction. In addition, when there is a notification of completion of image data transmission preparation from an external device such as the image transmission device 100, and it is determined that image data can be received from the device, information on the reading condition on the information processing device 200 side is notified It also has a function to return to

The second type is an information processing apparatus 200c that does not have a function of providing a reading condition in response to an access from the image transmission apparatus 100.
This apparatus includes a communication management unit 211 and a storage unit 212 as functional units having functions related to setting of reading conditions and reception of image data. The functions of these units are the same as the functions of the communication management unit 201 and the storage unit 202 in the information processing apparatuses 200a and 200b.

The third type is an information processing apparatus 200d having a function of exchanging information on the capabilities of each other prior to data transmission / reception.
This apparatus includes a communication management unit 221, a storage unit 222, and a device capability information management unit 223 as functional units having functions related to setting of reading conditions and reception of image data. The device capability information management unit 223 stores information on the capability of the information processing device 200d, and supplies the information to the communication management unit 221 in the session start procedure when starting communication with the external device. The function to send to is provided. The information on the capability includes, for example, the amount of data that can be handled, the image size, the resolution, the communication speed, the data encoding method, and the like, and may include information on the number of colors.
The functions of the communication management unit 221 and the storage unit 222 may be the same as the functions of the communication management unit 201 and the storage unit 202 in the information processing apparatuses 200a and 200b except for the above points.

Next, an outline of an operation when the image transmission apparatus 100 reads image data and transmits the image data to a plurality of designated transmission destinations (information processing apparatus 200) will be described.
FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 show operation examples of the image transmission apparatus 100 and the information processing apparatus 200 in this case. Here, in the image transmission apparatus 100, an example of operation when four information processing apparatuses 200a to 200d illustrated in FIG. 2 are set as transmission destinations of image data is illustrated.

  In this case, the image transmitting apparatus 100 accepts the reading conditions on the device side used when the reading conditions cannot be acquired from the transmission destination by the operation panel 105 or the like and the setting of the transmission destination of the image data as needed (S101, S102). After these are set, when a reading start instruction is detected by pressing a start button or the like (S103), an image data transmission preparation completion notification is provided among the devices set as the transmission destination. The information is transmitted to the information processing apparatuses 200a and 200b having functions (S104 and S105).

  It is not always clear what functions the destination device has from the destination address alone, but when using the address book, register the corresponding function in the address book. Judgment based on this can be considered. Also, depending on the address format, the IP address (first type), the mail address (second), and the telephone number (third) are distinguished. Conceivable. It is also possible to simply try brute force and identify the type based on the reaction of the counterpart device.

On the other hand, the information processing apparatuses 200a and 200b accept the setting of the reading conditions as needed (SA, SB), and when receiving the image data transmission preparation completion notification from the image transmission apparatus 100, request the image data transmission as a response. At the same time, the reading conditions set in the information processing apparatuses 200a and 200b are notified (S106, S107).
Further, the image transmission apparatus 100 transmits a communication start signal to the information processing apparatus 200d having a function of exchanging information regarding the capabilities of the apparatuses, and exchanges capability information in the session start procedure (S108, S109). Based on this capability information, a reading condition suitable for obtaining image data to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 200d is determined (S110).

Further, since the device-side reading condition set in step S101 is used as the reading condition for obtaining the image data to be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 200c that does not have the function of providing the reading condition, this is read ( S111).
The processes in steps S104 to S111 so far are the process of the reading condition acquisition procedure, and in these processes, the CPU 101 functions as a reading condition acquisition unit.

  When the image transmission apparatus 100 can prepare corresponding reading conditions for all the information processing apparatuses 200 set as transmission destinations, the image transmission apparatus 100 compares the conditions and transmits image data to each information processing apparatus 200. Therefore, the reading conditions used for actual reading and the procedures for processing and transmitting image data are determined (S112), and the process proceeds to the process shown in FIG.

  Further, in the process of the portion shown in FIG. 4, the scanner engine 107 is driven under the reading conditions determined in step S112, and the image of the original is read to acquire the image data (S113). In addition, when it is necessary to read a plurality of times and when it is necessary to reset a document as in the case of using an automatic document feeder (ADF), a reset instruction is appropriately given to the user. Thereafter, when the reading is completed (S114), the process proceeds to a process related to transmission and processing of image data.

Here, in step S112, a procedure for first performing reading under a reading condition corresponding to the information processing device 200a and then processing image data sequentially to generate image data to be transmitted to the other information processing devices 200b to 200d is determined. In the following, the following processing will be described.
In this case, the image transmitting apparatus 100 first transmits the image data obtained by the reading in step S113 to the information processing apparatus 200a (S115). When the information processing apparatus 200a completes the reception, the image transmitting apparatus 100 receives the image data. The reception completion is notified (S116).

  Thereafter, the image transmitting apparatus 100 processes the image data obtained by the reading in step S113, and generates image data that meets the reading conditions for the information processing apparatus 200b (S117). Then, the generated image data is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 200b (S118). When the information processing apparatus 200b completes the reception, the information processing apparatus 200b notifies the image transmission apparatus 100 that the reception is complete (S119).

  Similarly, generation of image data by processing and transmission of the generated image data are sequentially performed to other transmission destinations (S120 to S125). Then, after the transmission of the image data to all the transmission destinations is completed, the remaining image data is deleted (S126), and the process ends. The details of the processing for image transmission differ depending on the function of the transmission destination device, but the difference is not important here, and the description thereof is omitted.

Next, processing executed by the CPU 101 for the image transmission apparatus 100 to perform the operations shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described.
First, a policy for determining a processing procedure for image data transmission in this processing and the reason thereof will be described.
When the image transmission apparatus 100 transmits image data read under different reading conditions to a plurality of transmission destinations, it is simply required for transmission to each transmission destination by reading with the scanner engine 107 for each reading condition. Image data can be acquired. However, as the number of transmission destinations increases and the number of types of reading conditions increases accordingly, the number of times of reading increases, reading takes time, the memory capacity for storing image data increases, the scanner engine 107 increases. Depending on the mechanism, there is a problem that it takes time to reset the document.

  On the other hand, the amount of information (potential of image data) included in the image data obtained by reading differs depending on the reading conditions, but in general, a part of information is dropped from image data with a large amount of information and image data with a small amount of information is removed. It is possible to create. For example, image data that may be obtained by reading at a resolution of 300 dpi from image data read at a resolution of 600 dpi (dot per inch) is generated, or obtained by reading in monochrome from image data read at full color. Generate an image that is, and so on.

  Therefore, the original is first read under a reading condition that provides a sufficient amount of information, and the image data obtained by the reading is processed and read under other reading conditions. By generating the image data and transmitting the image data to the transmission destination, it is considered that the number of readings that need to be performed by the scanner engine 107 can be reduced.

Also, in this case, considering that image data with a large amount of information cannot be generated from image data with a small amount of information, the corresponding image data (the reading thereof) is processed in order from the reading conditions that obtain image data with a large amount of information. It is considered efficient to generate and transmit image data that would be obtained by reading a document under conditions.
Further, it is conceivable that the magnitude relationship of the information amount is different for each setting item, such that the resolution is higher in the reading condition A but the number of colors is higher in the reading condition B. In this case, since image data corresponding to the other reading condition cannot be generated from image data corresponding to one reading condition, when determining the reading condition used for the first reading and the subsequent processing procedure. It is necessary to consider this point.

Simply, if reading is performed under a reading condition that provides the maximum amount of information for all setting items, the image data corresponding to any reading condition can be obtained by processing the image data. . However, the image data obtained by such reading may become extremely large in size and may be inconvenient to handle due to restrictions on memory capacity and CPU processing capability. Therefore, this point also needs to be considered.
The processing described below is processing for determining and executing a processing procedure that can reduce the burden on the user as much as possible within the scope of hardware constraints in consideration of the above points.

5 to 9 show flowcharts of the processing.
When the CPU 101 of the image transmission apparatus 100 detects a reading start instruction in a state where the device-side reading conditions and the transmission destination are set, the CPU 101 starts the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG.
First, in step S11, for each set transmission destination, a reading condition to be used for reading image data to be transmitted is acquired. This processing corresponds to the processing in steps S103 to S111 in FIG. Even when reading conditions having exactly the same contents are acquired for a plurality of transmission destinations, these are handled as separate reading conditions.

Next, in step S12, for each reading condition acquired in step S11, an information amount of image data obtained by reading under the reading condition is estimated. For example, the number of bits per dot is obtained from the number of colors, the number of dots is obtained from the resolution and reading range, and these are multiplied.
In step S13, the reading conditions acquired in step S11 are arranged in descending order of the information amount estimated in step S12, and a group of reading conditions (hereinafter simply referred to as “condition group”) in steps S14 to S20 is generated. Proceed to the generation procedure. In this part of processing, the CPU 101 functions as a group generation unit.

The condition group is an association of reading conditions in which the magnitude relations of information amounts of image data obtained for all items are the same. When such an association is made, at least the image data corresponding to the reading condition in the group is obtained by converting the image data obtained by reading according to the reading condition estimated to obtain the maximum information amount in the group into the information amount. It can be obtained by processing to gradually reduce the amount.
In this condition group generation process, first, in step S14, the reading condition estimated that the maximum amount of information is obtained by the estimation in step S12 is classified into the first condition group.

Next, in step S15, the reading condition that provides the next largest amount of information is set as a processing target, and in step S16, the reading condition to be processed and the reading condition that provides the minimum information amount in the group for each condition group, Are compared for each setting item. This comparison only needs to be performed for setting items that affect the amount of information obtained. For example, the number of colors, resolution, reading range, and the like.
Then, in step S17, as a result of the comparison in step S16, it is determined whether or not there is a combination for which all the items have a condition for obtaining an information amount that is equal to or greater than the processing target reading condition under the comparison target reading condition. If there is, the process proceeds to step S18, where the reading conditions to be processed are associated with the corresponding reading conditions and classified into a condition group including the reading conditions. If there are a plurality of candidates, they may be classified anywhere, but if they are classified into the condition group generated first (that is, generated in step S14) as much as possible, it is suitable for retry processing.

If there is no appropriate combination in step S17, the process proceeds to step S19, where a new condition group is created, and the reading conditions to be processed are classified into the condition group.
In either case, the process proceeds to step S20. If there is an unclassified reading condition, the process returns to step S15 to repeat the process. If not, the process proceeds to step S31 in FIG.

  If the determination in step S17 is YES for all reading conditions, all reading conditions are classified into one condition group. In this case, as in the example shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the image data obtained by reading the document once under the reading condition with the largest amount of information obtained corresponds to the reading condition with the smaller amount of information obtained. By sequentially processing the image data, the image data corresponding to all the reading conditions can be obtained. However, if there is a case where the determination in step S17 is NO, such a procedure cannot be used, and branching for generating image data corresponding to a plurality of reading conditions from image data in the middle becomes necessary. In the first place, reading under a plurality of reading conditions becomes necessary from the beginning.

  FIG. 10 and FIG. 14 show specific examples of the reading conditions (for the sake of simplicity, only the resolution and the number of colors are shown). When the processing of steps S12 to S20 is performed for these reading conditions, FIG. And it is divided into groups as shown by broken lines in FIG. This is because the reading condition B and the reading condition C cannot be put in the same group in the example of FIG. 10, and the reading condition A and the reading condition D cannot be put in the same group in the example of FIG. The content of grouping is not determined in one way from the conditions shown in FIG. 5, but data necessary for transmitting image data can be obtained by any method. Further, in the processing so far, the processing procedure has not yet been determined.

Next, the processes after step S31 in FIG. 6 will be described. The processes at steps S31 to S39 are processes for determining the processing procedure of the image data. If it is determined that the transmission of the image data is basically performed in the order of generation, the transmission procedure is determined simultaneously with the processing procedure.
First, in step S31, it is registered that image data corresponding to a reading condition that can obtain the maximum amount of information in the first reading condition group is acquired by a new reading. As is apparent from steps S13 and S14 in FIG. 5, this condition is a reading condition for obtaining the maximum amount of information as a whole. At present, the corresponding image data is obtained by processing image data read under another reading condition. This is because it cannot be obtained.

Next, in step S32, image data corresponding to each reading condition in each condition group is generated by sequentially processing based on the image data read under the reading condition that provides the maximum amount of information in that group. Register. Conversely, it can be said that grouping was performed in order to find a combination capable of such processing. Note that what is registered here is the processing indicated by the arrow pointing downward in FIGS. 11 and 15.
In the next step S33, it is determined whether or not a plurality of reading condition groups are formed. If there is only one, the machining procedure should be completely determined, and the process proceeds to step S41 in FIG. 7 as it is. However, when there are a plurality of conditions, the process proceeds to step S34 and subsequent steps in order to determine whether or not the processing is possible between the condition groups.

In step S34, one of the second and subsequent reading condition groups is set as the processing target, and in step S35, the reading conditions X of the other groups are obtained for the reading condition X in which the maximum amount of information is obtained in the processing target condition group. In Y, a search is performed for all items that satisfy the condition for obtaining an information amount equal to or greater than the reading condition X. In this search as well, only the setting items that affect the amount of information to be obtained need be performed, as in step S16 in FIG.
Then, in the next step S36, it is determined whether or not there is a corresponding reading condition Y. If there is, the image data corresponding to the reading condition X is generated by processing the image data corresponding to the reading condition Y in step S37. Register to do so. This is because it can be understood that such processing is possible because there are corresponding conditions.

  If not, in step S38, the fact that the image data corresponding to the reading condition X is acquired by new reading is registered. This is because, since there is no corresponding condition, it is understood that image data corresponding to the reading condition X cannot be generated even if image data corresponding to another reading condition is processed. However, the registration in step S38 is not yet confirmed.

In either case, the process proceeds to step S39. If there is an unprocessed condition group, the process returns to step S34 to repeat the process. If not, the process proceeds to step S41 and subsequent steps in FIG.
By the processing shown in these steps S34 to S39, the processing is branched in the middle of the flow as shown in FIG. 11, or the plurality of condition groups are separately read as shown in FIG. It is decided. The condition M shown in FIG. 15 appears in the process shown in FIG.

Next, the processes after step S41 in FIG. 7 will be described. The processes at steps S41 to S46 are processes for determining a reading condition used for new reading.
First, in step S41, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of reading conditions registered to be used for new reading in the processing so far. This is synonymous with the determination of whether or not it has been NO in step S36 of FIG.

  If there are a plurality of reading conditions, the process proceeds to step S42, and for each setting item, the reading condition that selects the condition that provides the largest amount of information among the reading conditions registered to be used for new reading, Generate as the maximum information amount condition. As described above, the reading condition registered to be used for new reading is a reading condition that can obtain a larger amount of information than the other reading conditions in the condition group. The information amount condition is a reading condition in which, for each setting item, a condition that provides the largest amount of information among all the reading conditions acquired in step S11 of FIG. 5 is selected.

  In the next step S43, the capacity of image data obtained by reading using the overall maximum information amount condition is estimated. In step S44, it is determined whether or not the estimated capacity is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold considering the usable memory capacity and image processing capability. The estimation here is performed in consideration of the number of pages when it is necessary to store a plurality of pages of image data in a memory for transmission.

  If it is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value in step S44, the process proceeds to step S45, and the new reading is performed only once using the overall maximum information amount condition, and the image data obtained by the reading is processed to obtain a new reading. The fact that image data corresponding to each reading condition registered to be used is created is registered. This is because, if the memory capacity and the processing capability are sufficient, the original can be read only once by doing this, and the burden on the user can be reduced.

  On the other hand, if it is greater than or equal to the predetermined value in step S44, it is considered that the obtained image data cannot be processed properly even if reading is performed using the overall maximum information amount condition. The registration of the new reading execution performed in step S31 and step S38 is maintained. In this case, reading is performed a plurality of times.

Further, in the case of NO in step S41, it is understood that the image data corresponding to all the reading conditions acquired in S11 of FIG. 5 can be obtained from the image data obtained by one reading by the processing so far. Therefore, the processing in steps S42 and S43 is unnecessary, and the process proceeds to step S46 as it is, and the registration of the new reading execution performed in step S31 in FIG. 6 is maintained. In this case, reading is performed only once.
If the image transmitting apparatus 100 cannot cope with reading by the reading condition acquired in step S11 of FIG. 5 due to restrictions on memory capacity and processing capability, an error is notified at the time of step S11. When NO in S41, it is preferable not to cause a situation in which the amount of image data obtained by reading exceeds the predetermined value in step S44.

After steps S45 and S46, the process proceeds to step S51 and subsequent steps in FIG.
By the processing shown in steps S41 to S46, reading using the overall maximum information amount condition M is performed as shown in FIG. 15B, and as shown in FIGS. It is determined that multiple readings are performed at the same time.
The processing of steps S44 to S46 is the processing of the reading condition determination procedure. In this processing, the CPU 101 functions as a reading condition determination means.

  In the process so far, the reading, processing, and transmission procedures for transmitting image data to each destination sequentially process the image data obtained by reading, and acquire image data with a smaller amount of information. So that it can be transmitted. And the process from step S12 of FIG. 5 to step S45 or S46 of FIG. 7 is a process of the transmission procedure determination procedure, and CPU101 functions as a transmission procedure determination means in this process.

Next, the processing after step S51 in FIG. 8 will be described. The processing shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 in this portion is processing for reading, processing, and transmitting image data.
First, in step S51, the scanner engine 107 is driven sequentially using each reading condition registered to be used for new reading, and image data obtained by reading an image of a document is stored.

  In step S52, any one of the stored image data is set as a processing target, and the process proceeds to step S53 to determine whether the processing target image data has a transmission destination corresponding to the use of transmission. In this case, the image data to be processed is set as the transmission target in step S59, and the process proceeds to step S62 in FIG. 9 to transmit the image data. If not, the process proceeds to processing related to processing in step S54 and subsequent steps. For example, if the overall maximum information amount condition does not match the reading condition corresponding to any destination, the image data obtained by reading is not transmitted as it is.

  In this process, first, in step S54, image data to be processed is processed according to a registered processing procedure, and image data corresponding to other reading conditions is generated. The specific content of the processing process is, for example, a process of converting the resolution to a low resolution, reducing the number of colors, or narrowing the range of the image. Since it is good, description is abbreviate | omitted. The process of step S54 is a process of an image processing procedure. In this process, the CPU 101 functions as an image processing unit.

  Thereafter, in step S55, it is determined whether or not the image data to be processed is still used. If there is, the process proceeds to step S56, and the image data generated in step S54 is newly saved. In this case, the original image data is left for use in later processing. Then, in step S57, it is determined whether or not the image data to be processed still has a use for processing. If there is, processing returns to step S54 and the processing is repeated. If not, the process proceeds to the process related to image data transmission in step S61 and subsequent steps in FIG.

  If there is no further use in step S55, the process proceeds to step S58, and the image data generated in step S54 is overwritten on the original data and stored. In this case, since the original image data is no longer used, it is deleted so as not to occupy the memory. Then, the process proceeds to the processing relating to transmission of image data in step S61 and subsequent steps in FIG.

  In step S61, one of the image data generated in step S54 is set as a transmission target, and in step S62, the image data to be transmitted is transmitted to a corresponding transmission destination. In step S63, it is determined whether or not the transmission is successful. If the transmission is successful, the process proceeds to step S64. In step S64, it is determined whether or not the image data to be transmitted still has a use. If there is, if not, the image data to be transmitted is deleted in step S65, and the process proceeds to step S66.

In step S66, it is determined whether there is any image data generated in step S54 that has not yet been transmitted. If there is, the process returns to step S61 to repeat the process. If not, the process proceeds to step S67.
In step S67, it is determined whether there is still image data to be processed or transmitted other than waiting for retry, and if there is, the process proceeds to step S68 and any one of the image data to be processed or transmitted is set as the next processing target. Returning to step S53 of FIG. 8, the processing is repeated.

  If transmission fails in step S63, the process proceeds to step S69. Then, it is determined whether or not the memory capacity is sufficient. If so, the image data to be transmitted is left as it is in a retry standby state in step S70, and the process proceeds to step S64 to perform the following processing. In this case, the determination in step S64 still has a use. Further, in step S69, it is determined whether there is no room or not, based on necessary information among the current free memory capacity, the capacity of image data that needs to be stored in the subsequent processing procedure, and the capacity used for execution of other jobs. In consideration, it is only necessary to appropriately determine whether or not the subsequent processing and transmission processing can be continued while leaving the image data that could not be transmitted.

On the other hand, if there is no allowance in step S69, the process proceeds to step S71, where the image data to be transmitted is generated based on another image data in a later procedure and registered to be transmitted.
For example, in the example shown in FIG. 15A, when processing is performed in order from the left side, if transmission of image data corresponding to the condition B fails, this image data is stored in the condition D used in later processing. (See FIG. 14), the transmission of the image data corresponding to the condition B is temporarily stopped, the image data corresponding to the condition D is processed and generated again in a later procedure, and the transmission is retried. It is used.

  Such recombination of processing procedures can be performed by newly adding D → B processing and data transmission after processing to the procedure. Since the added process is performed in the normal process of steps S53 to S66, it is different from the retry standby state. Even when the recombination is performed here, the processing based on the image data to be transmitted is performed according to the procedure determined at the beginning.

  By the way, the above recombination cannot be performed unless there is an appropriate reading condition as a processing source. Therefore, whether or not it is possible is determined in step S72, and if possible, the process proceeds to step S64, but if not possible, the process proceeds to step S73. In this case, since the image data cannot be transmitted later, the process cannot be advanced. Therefore, according to the settings made in the image processing apparatus 100, the transmission is stopped, the retry is continued until the transmission is successful, and the reading is performed again at the time of the retry. After performing the process such as setting, the process proceeds to step S64.

On the other hand, if “NO” in the step S67, the process proceeds to a process related to transmission retry in the step S74 and the subsequent steps. In step S74 to S76, the image data is transmitted and the image data that has been transmitted is deleted until transmission of all the image data waiting for retry is started. If transmission fails for a predetermined number of times, transmission may be stopped. If there is no image data waiting for retry, steps S74 to S76 may be through.
If YES is determined in the step S76, the process proceeds to a step S77 so as to delete any remaining image data, and the process is ended.

With the above processing, the image transmission apparatus 100 can transmit image data with a small number of readings even when it is required to transmit image data read under different reading conditions to a plurality of transmission destinations. The work burden on the user can be reduced.
In particular, since the overall maximum information amount condition is generated and all image data necessary for transmission can be generated from the image data obtained by reading under the condition, the magnitude relationship of the information amount obtained for each item differs. Even if there is such a reading condition and all the image data necessary for transmission cannot be generated from the image data obtained by one reading using any reading condition used for transmission, it was obtained by one reading All the image data necessary for transmission can be generated from the image data, and the work burden on the user can be greatly reduced.

In addition, when reading using the overall maximum information amount condition is performed, if the amount of image data to be obtained becomes too large, a reading condition for obtaining image data with the largest amount of information in the group for a plurality of condition groups. Since a plurality of image data obtained by performing reading by each of the above is processed to generate image data necessary for transmission, a transmission error does not occur due to a memory shortage or the like.
In addition, since the image data for which all necessary transmission and processing have been completed is deleted, the memory is not restrained more than necessary.

In addition, since it is possible to create and execute a processing procedure for generating a plurality of image data by separately processing one image data, even when there is a reading condition such that the magnitude relation of the amount of information obtained for each item is different, Appropriate response is possible.
In addition, when transmission retry is necessary, image data processing and transmission procedures can be rearranged so that image data to be retried can be generated again by processing image data used in later procedures. Therefore, even when a memory area for storing image data for retry cannot be secured, the process can be advanced by delaying the retry.

Next, specific examples of image data reading, processing, and transmission procedures executed by the processing shown in FIGS. 5 to 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13 and FIGS. 14 to 17.
First, an example in which the reading conditions acquired as the reading conditions to be used for the transmission destinations A to D are those shown in FIG. Note that, as described above, in FIG. 10, the items of resolution and the number of colors are extracted from the reading conditions, and other conditions are not considered here. The information amount order is shown for easy understanding of the relationship between the conditions, and need not be included in the actual reading conditions.

In the case of the example shown in FIG. 10, the condition B (hereinafter referred to as “reading condition is abbreviated as such”), which is the reading condition corresponding to the transmission destination B, and the condition C are the magnitude relations of the information amount obtained by the item. Is different. Therefore, when the conditions A to D are divided into condition groups, the condition B and the condition C do not enter the same condition group. The condition A is an overall maximum information amount condition, and both the condition B and the condition C are in a relationship in which the magnitude relation of the information amount of the image data obtained for all items is the same.
In consideration of these, the processing procedure as shown in FIG. 11A or 11B is generated from the reading conditions shown in FIG. 10 by the processing shown in FIGS. It is possible to make the condition A and the condition C into the same condition group, but here, since the conditions are classified in the order sorted in step S13 in FIG. 5, the condition A and the condition C are the same condition group. Does not enter.

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 show processing examples when the procedure shown in (a) is adopted.
In this case, first, reading is performed under the condition A which is the overall maximum information amount condition (S201), and the image data A obtained by the reading is recorded in the memory (S202). Then, the image data A is transmitted to the transmission destination A (S203).
If the transmission is successful, the image data A is then processed (resolution conversion) to generate image data B corresponding to the reading condition B (S204). At this point in time, the image data A is still processed and used to generate the image data C, so the image data B is stored as a new storage. Thereafter, the image data A is processed (color number conversion) to generate image data C corresponding to the reading condition C (S205). At this point in time, the image data A is no longer used, and the image data C is saved by overwriting.

  Thereafter, the image data B is transmitted to the transmission destination B (S206). If the transmission is successful, the image data B is no longer used and is deleted from the memory (S207). Subsequently, the image data C is transmitted to the transmission destination C (S208). Here, if the transmission fails, the transmission of the image data C is retried later, and the image data C is processed (resolution conversion). Image data D is generated (S209). At this point in time, the image data C is still transmitted, so the image data D is stored as a new storage.

Next, in the processing of the portion shown in FIG. 13, the image data D is transmitted to the transmission destination D (S210). If the transmission is successful, the image data D has no use anymore and is deleted from the memory (S211).
The normal processing and transmission are all completed as described above. However, since transmission retry of the image data C remains, this is executed (S212). If the transmission is successful, the entire procedure is complete, so the remaining image data is deleted (S213), and the process is terminated.

Next, an example in which the reading conditions acquired as the reading conditions to be used for the transmission destinations A to D are those shown in FIG.
In the example shown in FIG. 14, the condition A and the condition D are different in the magnitude relation of the information amount obtained depending on the item. Therefore, when the conditions A to D are divided into condition groups, the condition A and the condition D do not enter the same condition group. In addition, the conditions A and D are in a relationship in which the magnitude relation of the information amount of the image data obtained in all items is the same as both the conditions B and C. Since none of the conditions A to D is the overall maximum information amount condition, it is necessary to newly generate the overall maximum information amount condition.

In consideration of these, processing procedures as shown in FIGS. 15A to 15C are generated from the reading conditions shown in FIG. 13 by the processing shown in FIGS.
Note that the difference between (a) and (b) depends on the reading conditions in which reading is performed once using the entire maximum information amount condition, or image data with the most information amount in the group is obtained for the two condition groups. The difference is whether each reading is performed.

Here, for example, normally, when a monochrome binary A4 size, 600 dpi image is stored without compression, the size of the image data is about 4 megabytes. Therefore, when reading is performed under condition A, if the size is A4, the size of the image data is about 16 megabytes, which is four times that size. In the case of condition D, if the full color is 8 bits per dot, the size of the image data is about 32 megabytes, which is 8 times. On the other hand, the total maximum information amount condition is about 128 megabytes, which is four times as large as that in the condition D.
As described above, when reading is performed under the condition of the total maximum information amount, the size of the obtained image data may be considerably increased. However, if the memory capacity and the processing capability are sufficient, this point is not so problematic, and this point is determined in step S44 of FIG.

FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 show processing examples when the procedure shown in (a) is adopted without using the overall maximum information amount condition.
In this case, first, reading is executed under the condition A in which the most image data is obtained in the first condition group (S301), and the image data A obtained by reading is recorded in the memory (S302). Then, reading is executed under the condition D in which the most image data is obtained in the next condition group (S303), and the image data D obtained by the reading is recorded in the memory (S304). Note that it is not essential to perform all readings at the beginning, and reading according to the condition D may be performed after step S311.

Next, the image data A recorded in the memory is transmitted to the transmission destination A (S305). If the transmission is successful, the image data A is then processed (resolution conversion) to generate image data B corresponding to the reading condition B (S306). At this point in time, the image data A is no longer used, and the image data B is saved by overwriting.
Thereafter, the image data B is transmitted to the transmission destination B (S307). Here, it is assumed that the transmission fails, and there is no room in the memory at this time. However, since the image data B can be generated by processing the image data D, the procedure is changed so as to generate the image data D later and retry transmission (S308).

Thereafter, the image data B is processed (resolution conversion) for transmission to the next transmission destination, and image data C corresponding to the reading condition C is generated (S309). At this time, the image data B is no longer used (the data necessary for transmission is generated by processing the image data D), and therefore the image data C is stored by overwriting.
Then, in the process shown in FIG. 17, the image data C is transmitted to the transmission destination C (S310). If the transmission is successful, the image data C is no longer used and is deleted from the memory (S311). This completes all the processes related to the first condition group.

  Next, the image data D stored in the memory is transmitted to the transmission destination D (S312). If the transmission is successful, the image data D is then processed (color number conversion) to generate image data B corresponding to the reading condition B (S313). This is the process added in step S306. Then, the image data B is transmitted to the transmission destination B (S314). If the transmission is successful, the entire procedure is completed, so the remaining image data is deleted (S315), and the process is terminated.

Although the description of the embodiment has been completed above, in the embodiment described above, the configuration of the apparatus or system, the specific processing content, the communication procedure, the data format, and the like are the same as those described in the above embodiment. Of course, it is not limited.
For example, from the size of the image data obtained by the reading based on the overall maximum information amount condition, the size of the image data obtained by the reading according to each reading condition to be used for a new reading is set as the criterion for the determination in step S44 of FIG. It may be considered whether the difference obtained by subtracting the sum is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. This threshold value may be determined in consideration of the balance between the trouble of reading a plurality of times and the degree of occupation of the memory and processing capacity.
In the example shown in FIG. 14, as described above, the size of the image data obtained by reading with the overall maximum information amount condition is larger than the total size of the image data obtained by reading for each group. May be reversed.

In the above-described example, whether reading is performed based on the overall maximum information amount condition, or whether all reading conditions registered to be used for new reading at the time of step S41 in FIG. Had come to choose. However, only a part of the reading conditions registered to be used for new reading at the time of step S41 is selected, and the condition for obtaining the largest amount of information is selected for each setting item. A maximum information amount condition may be generated so that it can be used for reading and processing in the same manner as the overall maximum information amount condition.
This is because even if the size of the image data becomes too large under the overall maximum information amount condition, it is possible that the image data can be accommodated in a size that can be processed if the maximum information amount condition is only for a part of the condition group.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the image transmission apparatus 100 proceeds to processing such as determination of conditions used for reading after acquiring the reading conditions corresponding to all the apparatuses set as transmission destinations. . However, the subsequent processing may be performed by ignoring the transmission destination that does not notify the reading condition within a predetermined time after transmitting the image data transmission preparation completion notification. The destination apparatus continues to monitor the reception of the image data until the image data is transmitted after it has been accessed from the image transmission apparatus 100 and the reading conditions are returned accordingly or the session is started. If there is no reception of image data within a certain time, the process may time out, so it is not preferable to wait for a long time after sending the image data transmission preparation completion notification. .

In addition to the above points, of course, in the present invention, the image data transmission destination device is not limited to the PC. Further, communication between the image transmission apparatus and the transmission destination apparatus can be performed by any communication path regardless of wired or wireless.
Further, the image data transmitted by the image transmission device is not limited to the one obtained by reading a document at the time of transmission, but can be read in advance or other data as long as the reading condition can be grasped and has a sufficient amount of information. It may be acquired from the apparatus or stored in the HDD or the like. Also, image data obtained by means other than reading the original, such as shooting with a camera, may be used.
Furthermore, it can be considered that the present invention is applied to a data transmission apparatus that transmits data other than image data. In this case, what is set in the transmission-side apparatus and the transmission destination apparatus is not limited to the reading condition, but more generally is a condition that specifies an environment for acquiring data to be transmitted.

Further, the program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to control hardware so as to function as the image transmission apparatus as described above, and is stored in advance in a ROM, an HDD, etc., or a CD-ROM or a flexible disk. The program is recorded on a non-volatile recording medium (memory) such as a memory, and the program is read from the memory to the RAM and executed by the CPU. The same effect can be obtained even when downloaded from an external device stored in the storage means and executed.
In addition, the configurations and modifications described above can be applied in appropriate combinations within a consistent range.

As described above, according to the image transmission apparatus, the control method of the image transmission apparatus, or the program of the present invention, when the image transmission apparatus transmits image data to a plurality of transmission destinations, Even when the reading conditions required between the two do not match, an appropriate operation can be performed.
Therefore, the usability of the image transmission apparatus can be improved by applying the present invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the image transmission apparatus which is one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a portion related to setting of reading conditions and transmission of image data of the image transmission apparatus and the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation example of the image transmission apparatus and the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation continued from FIG. 3. 5 is a flowchart of processing executed by the CPU of the image transmission apparatus to realize the operation illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

It is a flowchart of the subsequent process. It is a flowchart of the further subsequent processing. It is a flowchart of the further subsequent processing. It is a flowchart of the further subsequent processing. It is a figure which shows the example of the reading conditions which an image transmission apparatus acquires.

It is a figure which shows the example of the process sequence produced | generated by the process shown in FIG. 5 thru | or FIG. 7 based on the reading conditions shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the process which reads, processes, and transmits image data according to the procedure shown to Fig.11 (a). FIG. 13 is a diagram showing processing subsequent to FIG. 12. It is a figure which shows the example different from FIG. 10 of the reading conditions which an image transmission apparatus acquires. FIG. 15 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 11, illustrating an example of a processing procedure generated based on the reading condition illustrated in FIG. 14. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 12 which shows the example of the process which reads, processes, and transmits image data according to the procedure shown to Fig.15 (a). It is a figure which shows the process following FIG.

Explanation of symbols

100: Image transmission device, 101: CPU, 102: ROM, 103: RAM,
104: HDD, 105: Operation panel, 106: Communication I / F,
107: Scanner engine 108: System bus
110: Image transmission application, 111: Transmission destination storage unit,
112: Transmission destination condition acquisition unit, 113: Device side condition storage unit, 114: Condition comparison unit,
115: Transmission procedure determination unit, 116: Reading execution unit, 117: Transmission data management unit,
120: Panel control unit, 121: Operation receiving unit, 122: Display control unit,
131: Communication management unit, 132: Reading control unit, 133: Storage device,
134: Image processing unit, 200: Information processing device, 201, 211, 221: Communication management unit,
202, 212, 222: storage unit, 203: reading condition management unit,
223: Device capability information management unit

Claims (15)

Image transmitting means for transmitting image data read by the image reading means to an external device capable of communicating via a network;
For a plurality of external devices to which image data is transmitted, reading condition acquisition means for acquiring a reading condition of an image to be transmitted for each external device;
Condition generating means for generating an overall maximum information amount condition that selects a condition for obtaining image data with the largest amount of information among all the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquiring means for each item;
Image processing means for processing image data obtained by reading under some reading conditions and generating image data that would have been obtained if the same object was read under other reading conditions;
Means for obtaining image data corresponding to each reading condition acquired by the reading condition acquiring means by causing the image processing means to process image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition; Image transmission device. The image transmission device according to claim 1,
A group generation unit that compares the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit and associates the reading conditions in which the magnitude relation of the amount of information of the obtained image data matches in all items as a reading condition group;
When the group generation unit generates a plurality of reading condition groups, based on the estimation of the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, image data necessary for transmission to each of the transmission destinations, Image data obtained by performing one reading under the overall maximum information amount condition is processed and generated, or reading is performed under a reading condition that obtains image data with the most information amount in the group for the plurality of reading condition groups. And a reading condition determining means for determining whether or not to process and generate a plurality of image data obtained respectively. The image transmission device according to claim 2,
According to the determination by the reading condition determining means, the order of the reading conditions used for reading and the processing and transmission procedure of the image data obtained by reading according to each reading condition are sequentially processed by the image data obtained by reading. A transmission procedure determining means for determining to acquire and transmit a small amount of image data;
When reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined by the transmission procedure determining means, when all necessary processing is completed among the transmission of certain image data and the processing of the image data, the image data An image transmitting apparatus comprising a discarding unit that discards the image. The image transmission device according to claim 2,
When determining that it is necessary to process certain image data and generate image data corresponding to the reading conditions of a plurality of reading condition groups in order to follow the determination by the reading condition determining means to the transmission procedure determining means, An image transmitting apparatus comprising: means for creating a procedure for generating image data corresponding to the reading conditions of the plurality of reading condition groups from the certain image data. The image transmission device according to claim 3 or 4,
When reading, processing, and transmission of image data is performed according to the procedure determined by the transmission procedure determining means, if transmission retry is necessary, if there is room in the memory capacity for storing image data, transmission is performed. The image data to be retried is stored in the memory until it is retried, and if there is not enough space in the memory, the image data to be retried is processed into image data to be used in a later procedure. An image transmission apparatus comprising means for rearranging image data processing and transmission procedures so that the image data can be generated again. The image transmission device according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
When the reading condition determining means estimates that the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the image data necessary for transmission to each of the transmission destinations is An image transmitting apparatus characterized in that it is means for determining that image data is processed and generated. The image transmission device according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
When the reading condition determining means estimates that the difference obtained by subtracting the sum of the sizes of the plurality of image data from the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value, An image transmitting apparatus, comprising: means for determining that image data required for transmission to a transmission destination is generated by processing the plurality of image data. A method for controlling an image transmission apparatus having an image transmission means for transmitting image data read by an image reading means to an external apparatus capable of communicating via a network,
In the image transmission device,
For a plurality of external devices to which image data is transmitted, a reading condition acquisition procedure for acquiring a reading condition of an image to be transmitted for each external device;
A condition generation procedure for generating an overall maximum information amount condition by selecting a condition for obtaining image data with the most information amount among all the reading conditions acquired in the reading condition acquisition procedure for each item,
Processing image data obtained by reading under some reading conditions, and executing an image processing procedure for generating image data that would have been obtained if the same object was read under other reading conditions;
An image transmitting apparatus characterized in that image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition is processed by the image processing procedure to generate image data corresponding to each reading condition acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit. Control method. A method for controlling an image transmission device according to claim 8, comprising:
In the image transmission device,
A group generation procedure for comparing the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit and associating the reading conditions in which the magnitude relation of the amount of information of the obtained image data matches in all items as a reading condition group;
When generating a plurality of reading condition groups in the group generation procedure, based on the estimation of the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, the image data necessary for transmission to each of the transmission destinations, Image data obtained by performing one reading under the overall maximum information amount condition is processed and generated, or reading is performed under a reading condition that obtains image data with the most information amount in the group for the plurality of reading condition groups. And a reading condition determining procedure for determining whether to process or generate a plurality of image data obtained by performing each of the above. A method for controlling an image transmission device according to claim 9, comprising:
In the image transmission device,
According to the determination in the reading condition determination procedure, the order of the reading conditions used for reading, and the processing and transmission procedure of the image data obtained by reading according to each reading condition, sequentially process the image data obtained by reading, and more information A transmission procedure determination procedure for determining that image data with a small amount can be acquired and transmitted;
When reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined in the transmission procedure determination procedure, when all necessary processing is completed among transmission of certain image data and processing of the image data, the image data And a discarding procedure for discarding the image transmitting apparatus. The image transmission device according to claim 9,
When the transmission procedure determination procedure determines that it is necessary to process certain image data and generate image data corresponding to the reading conditions of a plurality of reading condition groups in order to follow the determination in the reading condition determination procedure, A method for controlling an image transmitting apparatus, comprising: creating a procedure for generating image data corresponding to the reading conditions of the plurality of reading condition groups from the certain image data. A control method for an image transmission device according to claim 10 or 11,
When the image transmission apparatus needs to retry transmission when reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined in the transmission procedure determination procedure, the memory capacity for storing the image data has a margin. In some cases, image data to be retried for transmission is stored in the memory until the retry is performed, and if there is not enough space in the memory, the image data to be retried for transmission is stored in a later procedure. A control method for an image transmitting apparatus, wherein a procedure for rearranging the processing and transmission procedures of image data is executed so that the image data to be used can be processed and generated again. A computer that controls an image transmission device having an image transmission unit that transmits image data read by the image reading unit to an external device that can communicate via a network.
For a plurality of external devices to which image data is transmitted, reading condition acquisition means for acquiring a reading condition of an image to be transmitted for each external device;
Condition generating means for generating an overall maximum information amount condition that selects a condition for obtaining image data with the largest amount of information among all the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquiring means for each item;
Image processing means for processing image data obtained by reading under some reading conditions and generating image data that would have been obtained if the same object was read under other reading conditions;
A program for causing the image processing means to process image data obtained by reading based on the overall maximum information amount condition and to function as means for obtaining image data corresponding to each reading condition acquired by the reading condition acquiring means. 14. The program according to claim 13, wherein
The computer,
A group generation unit that compares the reading conditions acquired by the reading condition acquisition unit and associates the reading conditions in which the magnitude relation of the amount of information of the obtained image data matches in all items as a reading condition group;
When the group generation unit generates a plurality of reading condition groups, based on the estimation of the size of the image data obtained by reading according to the overall maximum information amount condition, image data necessary for transmission to each of the transmission destinations, Image data obtained by performing one reading under the overall maximum information amount condition is processed and generated, or reading is performed under a reading condition that obtains image data with the most information amount in the group for the plurality of reading condition groups. A program that includes a program that functions as a reading condition determination unit that determines whether to process and generate a plurality of image data obtained by performing each of the above. 15. The program according to claim 14, wherein
When the computer needs to retry transmission when reading, processing, and transmitting image data according to the procedure determined by the transmission procedure determining means, and when there is a sufficient memory capacity for storing image data The image data for which transmission is retried is stored in the memory until the retry is performed, and when the memory capacity is not sufficient, the image data for which transmission is retried is used in a later procedure. A program including a program for functioning as means for rearranging image data processing and transmission procedures so that the image data can be processed and generated again.

Images