JP2009230474A - Image forming apparatus and location information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fetch input of URL of a target Web page at an optional point of time without mistakes. <P>SOLUTION: Image acquisition parts 1 and 13 obtain image data to be printed. A location information processing part 5 searches location information indicating a data location on a network 17, and converts, upon recognition of the location information, the recognized location information into a two-dimensional barcode QR. An image processing part 7 develops image data to printing image information, and inserts the two-dimensional barcode QR to the developed image information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a location information processing method. For example, an image forming apparatus that can be connected to a network such as the Internet in a copying machine, a facsimile machine, or a multi-function peripheral (MFP) thereof, and a location used for the same The present invention relates to an improvement of an information processing method.

  In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, various documents and other information can be obtained from Web (World Wide Web) pages connected to the Internet. It is necessary to input and specify a URL (uniform resource locator), which is a description method for designating the location of the information and the acquisition method.

  However, the URL is generally composed of a long character string. When the user manually inputs the URL into the image forming apparatus while looking at the print document on which the URL is displayed, there is a situation in which connection cannot be established if even one character is different. easy.

  Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which, for example, an image forming apparatus connected to the Internet automatically recognizes a URL and automatically connects it.

  For example, an image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-6078 (Patent Document 1) has been proposed.

This patent document 1 has a configuration in which a printed matter of a Web page is read to recognize a URL character, and based on this, the image data of the Web page is generated and output by connecting to the Web server. According to the user's request, the original image data and the downloaded Web page image data can be appropriately selected and output.
JP 2003-6078 A

  However, in Patent Document 1 described above, Web page image data can be automatically downloaded in accordance with a user's request and URL data is automatically printed. Therefore, many unnecessary prints are made. There is a problem that toner consumption tends to increase.

  Furthermore, the time when the user needs to connect to the Web page varies, and it is not always necessary to connect to the Web page, and it is assumed that the image forming apparatus is not present when the connection is necessary. Therefore, there is room for improvement in order to automatically connect to a target Web page in response to a user request.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus and a location information processing method capable of capturing a URL input of a target Web page without mistake at any time.

  In order to solve such a problem, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention searches an image acquisition unit for acquiring image data to be printed, and location information indicating data location on the network in the acquired image data, When the location information is recognized, the location information processing unit that converts the recognized location information into a two-dimensional barcode, and develops the image data into image information for printing. An image processing unit for inserting a two-dimensional barcode.

  In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the image processing unit may be configured to develop the image data into the image information while avoiding overlapping with the two-dimensional barcode.

  The image forming apparatus according to the present invention may include a printing unit that prints the developed image information, and the image processing unit outputs the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to the printing unit. It is.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention may have a display unit that displays the developed image information, and the image processing unit may output the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to the display unit. It is.

  The location information processing method according to the present invention searches for location information indicating the location of data on a network in the acquired image data and image acquisition processing for acquiring image data to be printed, and when the location information is recognized, Location information processing for converting the recognized location information into a two-dimensional barcode, image processing for expanding the image data into image information, and inserting the two-dimensional barcode into the expanded image information; It has.

  In the location information processing method of the present invention, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the image processing is expanded from the image data to the image information while avoiding overlapping with the two-dimensional barcode.

  In the location information processing method of the present invention, the image processing may be configured to output the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to a printing unit that prints the developed image information.

  In the location information processing method of the present invention, the image processing may be configured to output the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to the display unit that displays the developed image information.

  In such an image forming apparatus and location information processing method according to the present invention, image data to be printed is acquired, and the location information indicating the data location on the network is searched in the acquired image data to recognize the location information. The recognized location information is converted into a two-dimensional barcode, the image data is expanded into image information, and the two-dimensional barcode is inserted into the expanded image information. The input of the URL of the target Web page can be taken in without error.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the image processing is expanded from the image data to the image information while avoiding the image processing from overlapping the two-dimensional barcode, the output original image data is not hidden by the two-dimensional barcode.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the image processing outputs the image information with the two-dimensional barcode inserted therein to the printing unit that prints the developed image information, the printed matter with the two-dimensional barcode inserted is output. Easy to get.

  In the present invention, in the configuration in which the image processing outputs the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to the display unit that displays the developed image information, the two-dimensional barcode is not printed on paper. Can be read, contributing to resource saving.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention, and a location information processing method according to the present invention will be described in the course of explaining the image forming apparatus.

  1, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes an image reading unit 1, a storage unit 3, a location information processing unit 5, an image processing unit 7, an operation display unit 9, a printing unit 11, a communication unit 13, and a control unit 15. For example, a multi-function device A is configured by bus connection.

  The image reading unit 1 is a known device that optically reads image data from, for example, a printed document having a plurality of pages under the control of the control unit 15 and generates electronic image data by performing filter processing and gradation processing. An image acquisition unit such as a scanner, and the generated image data is sequentially stored in the storage unit 3 for each page of the document. The image data can also be acquired from the communication unit 13 as will be described later.

  Under the control of the control unit 15, the storage unit 3 includes the image data from the image reading unit 1 and the communication unit 13, URL recognition dictionary information, a two-dimensional barcode described later, a location information processing unit 5, an image processing unit 7 and an operation program of the control unit 15 are stored in a readable and writable manner, for example, a hard disk (HDD).

  The location information processing unit 5 takes in the image data from the storage unit 3 under the control of the control unit 15, searches for a URL in the image data, and when the URL is character-recognized, corresponds to the recognized URL. For example, it has a function of converting an image into a two-dimensional barcode (QR code: Quick Response Code) QR as shown in FIG. 2 and outputting the converted two-dimensional barcode QR to the image processing unit 7. A configuration in which the two-dimensional barcode QR is temporarily stored in the storage unit 3 is also possible.

  The URL is location information generally consisting of a character string indicating the data location on the network 17 such as the Internet. As a character recognition method, for example, a character characteristic pattern of each character string image and URL recognition of the storage unit 3 are used. In addition to the method of discriminating based on the degree of coincidence with the dictionary character pattern in the dictionary information, it can be implemented by a known method.

  Since the URL is often arranged or printed, for example, in the header, footer or margin in the image data, the recognition rate increases or the recognition speed increases when the location information processing unit 5 starts recognition from those areas. .

  The image processing unit 7 takes in the image data from the storage unit 3 under the control of the control unit 15, develops the image data into an image, converts it to, for example, bitmap image data, and converts the converted image data into the printing unit 11. And a function of outputting to the operation display unit 9.

  Moreover, if there is a two-dimensional barcode QR from the location information processing unit 5, the image processing unit 7 has a function of inserting and processing the image-converted two-dimensional barcode QR.

  The image processing unit 7 is controlled to insert a two-dimensional barcode QR at a preset location. For example, a location corresponding to a header or footer in image data that has been developed, or a location that does not overlap characters or image data Is selected and placed so as not to overlap the two-dimensional barcode QR.

  Therefore, the image processing unit 7 also has a function of adjusting the position of image information from the image data so as not to overlap with the two-dimensional barcode QR.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the operation display unit 9 serves as a display panel unit 19 and an operation unit 21 arranged in a main body case (not shown) of the multi-function peripheral A.

  That is, the display panel unit 19 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display panel as a display unit, and displays an operation state and an operation input state of the multifunction machine A.

  The operation unit 21 instructs “copy” which instructs a printing function which is a main function of the multifunction peripheral A, “printer” which instructs a printing function of print data from an external computer, etc., and a reading function which optically reads a document. Functions as an input unit having a selection key 21a for selecting “scanner” to be selected and “fax” for instructing facsimile transmission / reception, a numeric keypad 21b as a sign key, a start key 21c, and the like.

  The operation display unit 9 touches or presses the keys 21a to 21c, etc., inputs a function selection instruction to the multi-function device A, inputs characters and the like, and further starts operation such as printing, operation stop / reset, etc. In response to the operation instruction input of the device, the input information is output to the control unit 15.

  In the operation display unit 9, the image data including the two-dimensional barcode QR displayed on the display panel 17 is simply shown as a simple line diagram or a frame region having no meaning for characters and images other than the two-dimensional barcode QR. On the other hand, the two-dimensional barcode QR is controlled by the control unit 15 so as to be accurately exaggerated. Except for FIG. 2 in this specification, the two-dimensional barcode QR is shown in a simplified manner.

  The printing unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 receives a print instruction from the operation display unit 9, and is known to transfer and fix to a printing sheet based on the image data including the two-dimensional barcode QR from the image processing unit 7 under the control of the control unit 15. Monochrome or color printing engine. Detailed description and illustration of the printing unit 11 are omitted.

  The communication unit 13 in FIG. 1 receives image (file) data containing a URL from, for example, the Web server B or a computer (not shown) via a known network 17 under the control of the control unit 15 and stores the data in the storage unit 3. And an interface unit having a function of transmitting and receiving facsimiles and e-mails.

  The control unit 15 mainly controls the CPU, and controls the entire image forming apparatus, that is, the image reading unit 1, the storage unit 3, the location information processing unit 5, the image processing unit 7, the operation display unit 9, the printing unit 11, and the communication unit 13. Is. The location information processing unit 5 and the image processing unit 7 are also composed of a CPU or the like, and the control unit 15 may take part of them.

  Next, an operation and usage example of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The same applies to the case where image data is acquired from the communication unit 13.

  For example, when there is an instruction to read and print a sheet displaying a URL from the operation display unit 9, the image reading unit 1 generates image data from the sheet displaying the URL, and stores the generated image data in the storage unit 3. .

  When the location information processing unit 5 retrieves the image data from the storage unit 3 and searches for a URL in the image data and recognizes the URL, the recognized information processing unit 5 performs image conversion processing on the recognized URL to the corresponding two-dimensional barcode QR. The converted two-dimensional barcode QR is output to the image processing unit 7.

  Further, the image processing unit 7 takes in the image data from the storage unit 3, develops the image data into an image, converts the image data into bitmap image data, and converts the two-dimensional barcode QR from the location information processing unit 5 into the image data. Is output to the printing unit 9 and the operation display unit 9.

  Then, based on the image data including the two-dimensional barcode QR from the image processing unit 7, the printing unit 11 transfers and fixes to the printing paper, performs monochrome or color printing, and discharges the paper.

  On the other hand, the operation display unit 9 displays image data including a two-dimensional barcode QR.

  Therefore, for example, for the image forming apparatus A, another image forming apparatus, or an image reading / decoding apparatus (none of which is shown) mounted on the mobile phone, the printed paper on which the two-dimensional barcode QR is printed If the two-dimensional barcode QR is read over, the URL information indicated by the two-dimensional barcode QR is automatically taken into them, and it is possible to automatically connect to the URL without inputting the URL manually.

The same applies when the two-dimensional barcode QR displayed on the operation display unit 9 is read by a mobile phone or the like.
Such a processing procedure is the location information processing method according to the present invention.

  As described above, in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image reading unit 1 and the communication unit 13 (image acquisition unit) that acquire image data to be printed, and the location indicating the data location on the network 17 in the acquired image data. When searching for information and recognizing the location information, the location information processing unit 5 that converts the recognized location information into a two-dimensional barcode QR, and developing the image data into image information for printing, An image processing unit 7 that inserts the two-dimensional barcode QR while avoiding overlapping the image data with respect to the developed image information is provided.

  For this reason, it is possible to automatically capture URL information indicated by the two-dimensional barcode QR at any time, making it easy to automatically connect to the target Web page, reducing URL input mistakes, It is easy to improve efficiency.

  Further, since the original image data to be output is not hidden by the two-dimensional barcode QR, it is easy to determine the display state of the image data and the two-dimensional barcode QR.

  Then, since the image information with the two-dimensional barcode QR inserted is output to the printing unit 11 that prints the image information, a printed matter with the two-dimensional barcode QR inserted can be easily obtained and manually input. In addition, the two-dimensional barcode QR can be automatically read by holding the printed matter over a mobile phone or the like, thereby preventing a URL input error.

  Further, if the image information into which the two-dimensional barcode QR is inserted is output to the operation display section (display section) 9 that displays the developed image information, the two-dimensional barcode is displayed and printed on the paper. Without this, the two-dimensional barcode QR can be read, which contributes to resource saving.

  By the way, in the image processing unit 7, the insertion position of the two-dimensional barcode QR with respect to the developed image information avoids overlapping the image data (character string) as shown in FIG. The present invention is not limited to the example in which the code QR is inserted.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the display of the two-dimensional barcode QR is prioritized and the two-dimensional barcode QR is inserted at a position overlapping the image data (character string). It is optional depending on the purpose.

  Note that the location information processing method according to the present invention can provide the same effects as those of the image forming apparatus described above.

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is a figure explaining the schematic example of a two-dimensional barcode. It is a figure explaining the operation display part of the image forming apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation and an example of use of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention. It is a figure explaining the example of insertion of the two-dimensional barcode in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image reading unit (image acquisition unit)
3 Storage Unit 5 Location Information Processing Unit 7 Image Processing Unit 9 Operation Display Unit (Display Unit)
11 Printing unit 13 Communication unit (Image acquisition unit)
15 Control unit 17 Network 19 Display panel unit (display unit)
21 Operation part (input part)
21a Selection key 21b Numeric keypad 21c Start key A MFP (image forming apparatus)
B Web server QR 2D barcode

Claims (8)

An image acquisition unit for acquiring image data to be printed;
In the acquired image data, the location information indicating the data location on the network is searched, and when the location information is recognized, the location information processing unit that converts the recognized location information into a two-dimensional barcode;
An image processing unit that performs expansion processing from the image data to image information for printing, and inserts the two-dimensional barcode into the image information that has been expanded;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit develops the image data into the image information while avoiding overlapping with the two-dimensional barcode. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a printing unit that prints the image information that has undergone the expansion process, wherein the image processing unit outputs the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to the printing unit. apparatus. 4. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit that displays the image information that has been expanded, wherein the image processing unit outputs the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to the display unit. Image forming apparatus. Image acquisition processing for acquiring image data to be printed;
In the acquired image data, location information indicating the location of data on the network is searched, and when the location information is recognized, location information processing that converts the recognized location information into a two-dimensional barcode;
Image processing for expanding the image data into image information and inserting the two-dimensional barcode into the expanded image information;
A location information processing method comprising: 6. The location information processing method according to claim 5, wherein in the image processing, the image data is expanded into the image information while avoiding overlapping with the two-dimensional barcode. The location information processing method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the image processing outputs the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to a printing unit that prints the image information that has been subjected to the expansion processing. The location information processing method according to claim 5, wherein the image processing outputs the image information in which the two-dimensional barcode is inserted to a display unit that displays the developed image information.

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