JP2011066832A - Image reading control apparatus, image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the productivity, when reading images on both sides of a document in parallel, while taking into account the resolution designated by a user. <P>SOLUTION: In a reading operation mode setting device 30, a memory capacity acquiring section 31 acquires the capacity of a memory for storing images read by an image reading apparatus; a document size acquiring section 32 acquires a size of a document to be read; a designated resolution acquiring section 33 acquires a resolution designated by a user; and an image data amount calculating section 34 calculates an image data amount from the document size and the designated resolution. A mode-determining section 36 then determines whether the capacity of the memory is four times the image data amount and the designated resolution is lower than or equal to a reference resolution held by a reference resolution holding section 35; and if a result of the determination is negative, a mode-setting section 37 sets a first mode as a reading operation mode, but if the result of the determination is positive, the mode-setting section sets a second mode as the reading operation mode. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading control apparatus, an image reading apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a program.

  A technique for improving the productivity of output from a reading device is known for simultaneous double-sided reading in which both images formed on the front and back sides of a document can be read as color images (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the technique of this patent document 1, the document reading device reads the images formed on the front and back surfaces of the document as color images by conveying the document once, and the front image data and the back image data have a resolution in the sub-scanning direction. By halving each data amount to half the original data amount and storing it in the memory originally provided to store the back side image data, the next original document conveyed is read as a color image. Meanwhile, the front side image data and the back side image data of the document before being stored in the memory are transferred to the outside.

JP 2006-13882 A

  An object of the present invention is to improve productivity when reading images on both sides of a document in parallel in consideration of a resolution designated by a user.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a resolution acquisition unit that acquires a specified resolution specified by a user, and the specified resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition unit, wherein the image reading apparatus parallels images on both sides of a document. If the image reading apparatus stores the double-sided image in the storage means once, the condition is not more than the reference resolution that is the resolution of the double-sided image that can be transferred within the time required to read An image reading control apparatus comprising: a setting unit that sets a double-sided storage state that is read from the storage unit and transferred as an image of the designated resolution.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the setting unit sets the image reading device as the double-sided image on the condition that the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition unit exceeds the reference resolution. One of the images is transferred without being stored in the storage means, and the other of the two-sided images is temporarily stored in the storage means and then set in a single-sided storage state in which it is read from the storage means and transferred. The image reading control device according to 1.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the double-sided printing is performed based on the specifying unit that specifies the size of the document, the size specified by the specifying unit, and the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquiring unit. Calculating means for calculating the data capacity of the image, wherein the setting means reads the image on the condition that the data capacity calculated by the calculating means is not more than a predetermined reference capacity. The image reading control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is set in the double-sided storage state.
The invention according to claim 4 further includes a compression rate acquisition unit that acquires a compression rate according to a mode specified by a user, and the calculation unit adds the compression rate acquired by the compression rate acquisition unit to the compression rate. The image reading control apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: calculating a data capacity of the images on both sides based on the data.
The invention according to claim 5 is the image reading control apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the reference capacity is ¼ of the storage capacity of the storage means.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a first reading unit that reads an image on the first surface of a document and a second image of the document in parallel with the reading of the image on the first surface by the first reading unit. A second reading unit that reads an image on a surface, a resolution acquisition unit that acquires a specified resolution specified by a user, and the specified resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition unit reads an image on both sides of the document. The image on the first surface read by the first reading means and the second reading on the condition that the resolution is equal to or lower than a reference resolution that is the resolution of the images on both sides that can be transferred within the time required for Control means for controlling so that the image of the second surface read by the means is temporarily stored in the storage means and then read out from the storage means and transferred as the image of the designated resolution An image reading apparatus characterized by comprising a.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the control means is read by the first reading means on condition that the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition means exceeds the reference resolution. The image on the first surface is transferred without being stored in the storage means, and the image on the second surface read by the second reading means is temporarily stored in the storage means and then stored in the storage means. The image reading apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image reading apparatus is controlled so as to be read and transferred.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a first reading unit that reads an image on the first surface of a document and a second image of the document in parallel with the reading of the image on the first surface by the first reading unit. A second reading unit that reads an image on a surface, a resolution acquisition unit that acquires a specified resolution specified by a user, and the specified resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition unit reads an image on both sides of the document. The image on the first surface read by the first reading means and the second reading on the condition that the resolution is equal to or lower than a reference resolution that is the resolution of the images on both sides that can be transferred within the time required for Control means for controlling so that the image of the second surface read by the means is temporarily stored in the storage means and then read out from the storage means and transferred as the image of the designated resolution An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on the first surface and an image on the second surface controlled to be transferred by the control unit on a recording medium. .
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the computer acquires a specified resolution specified by the user and the acquired specified resolution allows the image reading apparatus to read images on both sides of the document in parallel. One condition is that the resolution of the double-sided image that can be transferred within the required time is equal to or less than the reference resolution, and the image reading device stores the double-sided image in the storage unit and then reads it from the storage unit. And a function for setting a double-sided storage state to be transferred as an image of the designated resolution.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the productivity when reading the images on both sides of the document in parallel is improved in consideration of the resolution designated by the user as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. be able to.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, productivity when reading images on both sides of a document in parallel is further improved as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, and the storage means required at that time is improved. Capacity can be reduced.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of insufficient capacity of the storage unit when reading the images on both sides of the document in parallel, compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a storage capacity shortage when reading images on both sides of a document in parallel in consideration of the compression rate corresponding to the mode specified by the user.
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, it is possible to efficiently use the storage unit when reading the images on both sides of the document in parallel.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the productivity when reading the images on both sides of the document in parallel is improved in consideration of the resolution designated by the user as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. be able to.
According to the invention of claim 7, the productivity when reading the images on both sides of the document in parallel is further improved compared to the case where the present configuration is not provided, and the storage means required at that time is improved. Capacity can be reduced.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the productivity when reading images on both sides of the document in parallel is improved in consideration of the resolution designated by the user as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. be able to.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the productivity when reading the images on both sides of the document in parallel is improved in consideration of the resolution designated by the user as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. be able to.

1 is a diagram illustrating an image reading apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of CIS (Contact Image Sensor). It is a block diagram for demonstrating a processing apparatus. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the image processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a time chart for comparing and explaining the 1st mode and the 2nd mode when low resolution is specified in an embodiment of the invention. It is a time chart for comparing and explaining the 1st mode and the 2nd mode when high resolution is specified in an embodiment of the invention. It is the block diagram which showed the function structural example of the reading operation mode setting apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the reading operation mode setting apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example when the 1st mode of the image processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention is set. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example when the 2nd mode of the image processing apparatus in embodiment of this invention is set.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image reading apparatus to which the present embodiment is applied. This image reading apparatus processes a read image signal, a document feeder 10 that sequentially conveys documents from a stack of stacked documents, a scanner device 70 that reads an image on the first surface (front surface) of a document by scanning, and the like. A processing device 80 and an image processing device 100 that performs image processing on an output from the processing device 80 are provided. The figure also shows an image forming mechanism 120 that forms an image on a recording medium such as paper, although not strictly constituting an image reading apparatus. Here, as an image forming method in the image forming mechanism 120, an electrophotographic method in which an image is formed by transferring toner adhered to a photosensitive member to a recording medium, or ink is ejected onto the recording medium. Then, an ink jet method for forming an image may be adopted. Note that the entire image reading apparatus including the document feeder 10, the scanner device 70, the processing device 80, and the image processing device 100 and the image forming mechanism 120 can be regarded as an image forming device.

The document feeder 10 includes a document storage unit 11 that stacks a bundle of documents including a plurality of documents, and a paper discharge storage unit 12 that is provided below the document storage unit 11 and stacks a document that has been read. Further, the document feeder 10 includes a take-out roll 13 that takes out and conveys the document in the document container 11. Further, on the downstream side of the take-out roll 13 in the document transport direction, there is provided a mechanism 14 for separating sheets one by one. This separating mechanism 14 has a feed roll 14a for conveying the document supplied by the take-out roll 13 further downstream, and a retard roll 14b for separating the documents supplied by the take-out roll 13 one by one. A pre-registration roll 16, a registration roll 17, a platen roll 18, an out roll 19, and a discharge roll 20 are provided in order from the upstream side in the document conveyance direction in the conveyance path 15 where the document is conveyed. The pre-registration roll 16 conveys the originals that are rolled up one by one toward the downstream roll and forms a loop of the originals. The registration roll 17 rotates and temporarily stops, then restarts at the same timing, and supplies the original while performing registration adjustment to an original reading unit described later. The platen roll 18 assists the conveyance of the document being read by the scanner device 70. The out roll 19 conveys the document read by the scanner device 70 further downstream. The discharge roll 20 further conveys the read original and discharges it to the paper discharge storage unit 12.
In the document feeder 10, a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) 50 that reads an image on the second surface (back surface) of the document is provided between the out roll 19 and the discharge roll 20.

  On the other hand, the scanner device 70 supports the document feeding device 10 described above so as to be openable and closable, supports the document feeding device 10 with a device frame 71, and reads an image of a document conveyed by the document feeding device 10. Yes. The scanner device 70 includes a device frame 71 that forms a casing, a first platen glass 72A on which a document to be read can be placed in a stationary state, and a document that is transported by the document feeder 10 A second platen glass 72B having an opening for light is provided.

  Further, the scanner device 70 is stationary under the second platen glass 72B or scans the entire first platen glass 72A to read an image, and the light obtained from the full rate carriage 73 is input to the imaging unit. A half-rate carriage 75 for supplying is provided. The full-rate carriage 73 includes an illumination lamp 74 that irradiates light on the original and a first mirror 76A that receives reflected light obtained from the original. Further, the half-rate carriage 75 includes a second mirror 76B and a third mirror 76C that provide light obtained from the first mirror 76A to the imaging unit. Furthermore, the scanner device 70 includes an imaging lens 77 and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor 78. Among these, the imaging lens 77 optically reduces the optical image obtained from the third mirror 76C. The CCD image sensor 78 photoelectrically converts the optical image formed by the imaging lens 77. That is, the scanner device 70 forms an image on the CCD image sensor 78 using a so-called reduction optical system.

  In the fixed reading mode in which the image of the original placed on the first platen glass 72A is read, the full rate carriage 73 and the half rate carriage 75 move in the scanning direction (arrow direction) at a ratio of 2: 1. At this time, the light of the illumination lamp 74 of the full rate carriage 73 is applied to the surface to be read of the document. Then, the reflected light from the document is reflected in the order of the first mirror 76 A, the second mirror 76 B, and the third mirror 76 C and guided to the imaging lens 77. The light guided to the imaging lens 77 forms an image on the light receiving surface of the CCD image sensor 78. The CCD image sensor 78 is a one-dimensional sensor and processes one line at the same time. The full rate carriage 73 and the half rate carriage 75 are moved in this line direction (scanning sub-scanning direction) to read the next line of the document. By executing this over the entire original, reading of one page of the original is completed.

  On the other hand, the second platen glass 72B is constituted by a transparent glass plate having a long plate-like structure, for example. In the transport reading mode in which an image of a document transported by the document feeder 10 is read, the transported document passes over the second platen glass 72B. At this time, the full rate carriage 73 and the half rate carriage 75 are stopped at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the reflected light of the first line of the document that has passed through the platen roll 18 of the document feeder 10 is imaged by the imaging lens 77 via the first mirror 76A, the second mirror 76B, and the third mirror 76C. An image is read by the CCD image sensor 78. That is, after one line in the main scanning direction is simultaneously processed by the CCD image sensor 78 which is a one-dimensional sensor, the next line in the main scanning direction of the document conveyed by the document feeder 10 is read. After the leading edge of the document reaches the reading position of the second platen glass 72B, the trailing edge of the document passes through the reading position of the second platen glass 72B, thereby completing one-page document reading in the sub-scanning direction. To do.

  In the present embodiment, the full-rate carriage 73 and the half-rate carriage 75 are stopped as described above, and the CIS 50 is conveyed during the conveyance of the document in which the CCD image sensor 78 reads the first surface of the document via the second platen glass 72B. Thus, it is possible to read the second side of the original document collectively. That is, by using the CCD image sensor 78 and the CIS 50, it is possible to read the images on both the front and back sides of the document by transporting the document to the transport path 15 once. Here, in the present embodiment, the reading position of the second surface of the document by the CIS 50 is shifted from the reading position of the first surface of the document by the CCD image sensor 78 to the downstream side in the document transport direction.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the CIS 50. The CIS 50 functioning as a reading unit is provided between the out roll 19 and the discharge roll 20 as shown in FIG. One side (first side) of the original is pressed against the second platen glass 72B, and the image on the first side is read by the CCD image sensor 78. On the other hand, in the CIS 50, an image on one side (second side) is read from the other side facing through the conveyance path 15. The CIS 50 includes a housing 51, a glass 52, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) array 53, a rod lens array 54, and a line sensor 55. Among these, the glass 52 is attached to an opening formed on the conveyance path 15 side of the housing 51. The LED array 53 irradiates light on the second surface of the document via the glass 52. The rod lens array 54 collects the reflected light of the irradiation light from the LED array 53. The line sensor 55 reads the light collected by the rod lens array 54. As the line sensor 55, a CCD, a CMOS sensor, a contact sensor, or the like can be used, and an image with an actual width (for example, A4 longitudinal width 297 mm) can be read. That is, in the CIS 50, an image is captured by a so-called equal-magnification optical system using the rod lens array 54 and the line sensor 55 without using the reduction optical system.

Next, the processing device 80 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for explaining the processing device 80. The processing device 80 to which this embodiment is applied is large and controls the signal processing unit 81 that processes image information obtained from the sensors (CCD image sensor 78 and CIS 50), the document feeder 10 and the scanner device 70. And a control unit 90. The signal processing unit 81 processes an analog signal for each output from the CCD image sensor 78 that reads the front surface (first surface) of the document and the CIS 50 (line sensor 55) that reads the back surface (second surface). AFE (Analog Front End) 82, ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) 83 that converts an analog signal into a digital signal, and two digital processing units 84 that perform various processing such as shading correction and offset correction on the digital signal are provided. Thus, digital processing is separately performed on the read images on the front surface (first surface) and the back surface (second surface). The digital signal processed by the digital processing unit 84 is subjected to processing such as resolution conversion in the image processing apparatus 100 and is output to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or a host system such as a personal computer (PC).

  On the other hand, the control unit 90 includes an image reading control 91 that controls the entire document feeding device 10 and the scanner device 70, including various double-sided scanning control and single-sided scanning control, and a CCD / CCD that controls the CCD image sensor 78 and the CIS 50. A CIS control 92, a lamp control 93 for controlling the LED array 53 of the CIS 50 and the illumination lamp 74 of the full rate carriage 73 in accordance with the read timing, a motor on / off of the scanner device 70, etc., and a full rate carriage 73 and a half rate carriage 75 A scanning control 94 that controls the scanning operation of the document, a motor control in the document feeder 10, a transport mechanism control 95 that controls various roll operations, feed clutch operations, gate switching operations, and the like. . From these various controls, control signals are output to the document feeder 10 and the scanner device 70, and these operations can be controlled based on the control signals. The image reading control 91 sets a reading mode based on a control signal from the host system, a sensor output detected in the automatic selection reading function, a selection from the user, and the like, and controls the document feeder 10 and the scanner device 70. I have control. As the reading mode, a double-sided simultaneous reading mode and a single-sided reading mode can be considered.

Next, functions and operations of the image processing apparatus 100 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image processing apparatus 100 to which the present exemplary embodiment is applied. The image processing apparatus 100 is obtained from a CCD image sensor 78 as a first reading unit, and is a surface (first surface) formed of a digitized high resolution (for example, 600 dpi (Dot Per Inch) × 600 dpi). A first color image processing unit 101 that processes image data and a back surface (second surface) that is obtained from a CIS 50 serving as a second reading unit and is a digitized high-resolution (for example, 600 dpi × 600 dpi) full-color image. A second color image processing unit 102 that processes image data and an image data storage unit 103 that stores input color image data are provided.

  The image data storage unit 103 includes a programmable logic array 104 that performs serial conversion and the like of input color image data (parallel data), the color image data of the first surface input from the first color image processing unit 101, and the first color image data. A memory 106 as an example of a storage unit that stores color image data of the second surface input from the second color image processing unit 102, and a memory controller 107 as an example of a control unit that controls the memory 106. . The image data storage unit 103 has 24 bits (3 colors × 8 bits) composed of 8 bits (256 gradations, multi-values) for each color of RGB from the first color image processing unit 101 and the second color image processing unit 102. Color image data is input. In addition, the memory controller 107 controls the memory 106 so that the input three color (RGB) color image data is stored for each color.

  In this image reading apparatus, as described above, the first side and the second side of the document can be read as full-color images. Further, in this image reading apparatus, normally, one original can be read with a resolution of 600 dpi × 600 dpi and a gradation of 8 bits (256) for each color of RGB. For this reason, the memory 106 has a memory capacity capable of storing two pages of color image data with a resolution of 600 dpi × 600 dpi, three colors, and 256 gradations.

By the way, two modes can be considered as a reading operation mode of a double-sided color original using the image reading apparatus.
The first mode is a mode in which the image on the front side is transferred by the memory controller 107 without being stored in the memory 106, and the image on the back side is temporarily stored in the memory 106 and transferred by the memory controller 107 after the transfer of the image on the front side.
The second mode is a mode in which the front image and the back image are temporarily stored in the memory 106 and transferred by the memory controller 107 in the order of the front image and the back image.

  Here, the case where the high resolution is designated as the resolution of the image requested by the user and the case where the low resolution is designated will be described by comparing the image reading operations in these two modes. In this case, the high resolution means the resolution of the image obtained from the CCD image sensor 78 or the CIS 50 (for example, 600 dpi × 600 dpi), and the low resolution means that this resolution is reduced by resolution conversion processing. The later resolution (for example, 600 dpi × 300 dpi) is assumed. The time required for reading the low-resolution front and back images from the memory 106 and transferring them by the memory controller 107 is within the reading time of one original, but the high-resolution front and back images It is assumed that the time required for reading from the memory 106 and transferring by the memory controller 107 exceeds the reading time for one original.

FIG. 5 shows a page synchronization signal (PS signal) and a line synchronization signal (LS) when reading the front side image, reading the back side image, and transferring the read image in the image reading operation when the low resolution is designated. Signal). In the figure, “PS” indicates a page synchronization signal, and “LS” indicates a line synchronization signal.
Among these, (a) shows the image reading operation in the first mode.
First, as shown in (5A), reading of the image on the first front surface of the document is started, and thereafter, after a little delay, reading of the image on the first back surface of the document as shown in (5B). Is started.
The front surface image is subjected to resolution conversion processing simultaneously with reading, and is transferred to the subsequent module by the memory controller 107 as shown in (5C). On the other hand, the back side image is temporarily stored in the memory 106, read out from the memory 106 after transferring the front side image, and simultaneously subjected to resolution conversion processing as shown in (5D) by the memory controller 107. It is transferred to the subsequent module.
When the transfer of the image on the back side of the first original of the original is thus completed, reading of the second original of the original is started.

Further, (b) shows an image reading operation in the second mode.
First, as shown in (5E), reading of the image on the first front surface of the document is started, and thereafter, after a little delay, reading of the image on the first back surface of the document as shown in (5F). Is started.
Then, the front side image and the back side image are subjected to resolution conversion processing at the same time as being read and accumulated in the memory 106. As shown in (5G), the front side image is read from the memory 106 and is read by the memory controller 107. After being transferred to the subsequent module, as shown in (5H), the image on the back surface is read from the memory 106 and transferred to the subsequent module by the memory controller 107.
As described above, when the low resolution is designated, the images on both the front and back sides can be read out and transferred from the memory 106 within the reading time of one original. Therefore, this reading and transferring are performed on the second original. In parallel with reading.

On the other hand, FIG. 6 shows a page synchronization signal (PS signal) and a line synchronization signal when reading the front image, reading the back image, and transferring the read image in the image reading operation when the high resolution is designated. It is the time chart which showed (LS signal). In the figure, “PS” indicates a page synchronization signal, and “LS” indicates a line synchronization signal.
Among these, (a) shows the image reading operation in the first mode.
First, as shown in (6A), reading of the image on the first surface of the first document is started, and then, after a little delay, reading of the image on the first back surface of the document as shown in (6B). Is started.
Then, as shown in (6C), the front image is transferred to the subsequent module by the memory controller 107. On the other hand, the back image is temporarily stored in the memory 106, read out from the memory 106 after the transfer of the front image, and transferred to the subsequent module by the memory controller 107 as shown in (6D).
When the transfer of the image on the back side of the first original of the original is thus completed, reading of the second original of the original is started.

Further, (b) shows an image reading operation in the second mode.
First, as shown in (6E), reading of the image on the first front surface of the document is started, and then, after a little delay, reading of the image on the first back surface of the document as shown in (6F). Is started.
Then, the front image and the back image are accumulated in the memory 106, and after the front image is read from the memory 106 and transferred to the subsequent module by the memory controller 107 as shown in (6G), (6H ), The image on the back side is read from the memory 106 and transferred to the subsequent module by the memory controller 107.
As described above, when the high resolution is designated, the images on both the front and back sides cannot be read and transferred from the memory 106 within the reading time of one original, so this reading and transferring are performed for the second original. Will wait for reading. In the figure, after the reading and transfer of the first front image of the document from the memory 106 are completed, the reading and transfer from the memory 106 on the back side of the first document is performed in parallel with the reading of the second document. Is going.
In this case, a total of four pages of memory capacity is required so that the second read image of the original does not overwrite the first image of the original stored in the memory 106.

When the first mode and the second mode are compared in this way, when a low resolution is designated, as is apparent from FIG. 5, the productivity is twice as high as that of the first mode in the second mode. It becomes.
When the high resolution is designated, the image data is stored in the memory 106 without reducing the data amount as described with reference to FIG. Therefore, since the transfer of the image data on the front and back sides once accumulated in the memory 106 is not completed during the reading of the next original, the reading operation by the scanner device 70 is stopped until the reading from the memory 106 is completed. This means that productivity cannot be improved even though the memory capacity required for storage increases. Further, since the first surface image is output after the completion of the reading of the first sheet, the time from when the start button is pressed until the first copy is ejected becomes longer. That is, when a high resolution is designated, the second mode lowers the productivity and increases the necessary memory capacity than the first mode.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the image reading apparatus capable of simultaneous reading on both sides, the reading operation mode of the image reading apparatus is set to the first mode depending on the memory capacity of the image reading apparatus, the document size, and the resolution specified by the user. Control to switch between the second modes is performed.
Specifically, at the start of the reading operation, information on the remaining capacity of the memory 106, the size of the document to be read, and the resolution specified by the user (hereinafter referred to as “specified resolution”) is acquired, and 1 from the document size and the specified resolution is acquired. The amount of image data for a page is calculated. The remaining memory capacity is N times or more of the image data amount for one page (N is a predetermined positive number), and the specified resolution is two pages within the reading time of one original. The image reading operation mode is switched from the first mode to the second mode.

First, the reading operation mode setting device 30 that realizes such an operation will be described. The reading operation mode setting device 30 is an example of an image reading control device, and is connected to the image processing device 100 shown in FIG. 4, and a CPU (not shown) such as a printer device including these devices stores a program in a RAM. This is realized by reading and executing (not shown).
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the reading operation mode setting device 30.
As shown in the figure, the reading operation mode setting device 30 includes a memory capacity acquisition unit 31, a document size acquisition unit 32, a designated resolution acquisition unit 33, an image data amount calculation unit 34, a reference resolution holding unit 35, a mode. A determination unit 36 and a mode setting unit 37 are provided.

The memory capacity acquisition unit 31 acquires information indicating the remaining capacity of the memory 106.
The document size acquisition unit 32 acquires information indicating the size of a document to be read. In the present embodiment, a document size acquisition unit 32 is provided as an example of a specifying unit that specifies the size of a document.
The designated resolution acquisition unit 33 acquires the designated resolution input from, for example, an operation panel (not shown). In the present embodiment, a designated resolution acquisition unit 33 is provided as an example of a resolution acquisition unit.
The image data amount calculation unit 34 calculates the data amount for one page of the image to be provided to the user based on the document size acquired by the document size acquisition unit 32 and the specified resolution acquired by the specified resolution acquisition unit 33. . In the present embodiment, an image data amount calculation unit 34 is provided as an example of a calculation unit that calculates the data capacity.

  The reference resolution holding unit 35 holds a reference resolution (hereinafter referred to as “reference resolution”) for determining whether the designated resolution is a high resolution or a low resolution. Here, as the reference resolution, for example, the maximum resolution among the resolutions of images when two pages of images can be transferred within the reading time of one page of the document may be adopted. In the following description, it is assumed that the reference resolution is predetermined in consideration of the document reading time, the general data amount of the document image, and the like. May be determined automatically.

The mode determination unit 36 is configured such that the memory capacity acquired by the memory capacity acquisition unit 31 is N times or more the image data amount calculated by the image data amount calculation unit 34 and the specified resolution acquired by the specified resolution acquisition unit 33 is Then, it is determined whether the reference resolution is lower than the reference resolution held by the reference resolution holding unit 35.
The mode setting unit 37 sets the reading operation mode in the image reading apparatus to the first mode or the second mode based on the determination result by the mode determination unit 36. In the present embodiment, the first mode is used as an example of the single-sided storage state, and the second mode is used as an example of the double-sided storage state. In addition, a mode setting unit 37 is provided as an example of setting means for setting the image reading apparatus to the single-sided storage state or the double-sided storage state.

Next, the operation of the reading operation mode setting device 30 will be described. In this operation description, N used for comparison between the remaining memory capacity and the amount of image data is “4”. That is, one of the conditions for setting the reading operation mode to the second mode is that the remaining memory capacity is four times or more the image data amount. However, read / write control is performed so that image data to be read and transferred from the memory 106 is not overwritten by image data to be written to the memory 106, and the read operation mode is set to the second mode when the remaining memory capacity is smaller. You may make it set to.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the reading operation mode setting device 30.
In the reading operation mode setting device 30, first, the memory capacity acquisition unit 31 acquires the remaining capacity of the memory 106 (step 301), and the document size acquisition unit 32 acquires the size of the document to be read (step 302). The designated resolution acquisition unit 33 acquires the designated resolution (step 303).
Next, the image data amount calculation unit 34 calculates the image data amount for one page based on the document size acquired in step 302 and the designated resolution acquired in step 303 (step 304).

Then, the mode determination unit 36 determines that the remaining capacity of the memory 106 acquired in step 301 is equal to or more than four pages of the image data amount calculated in step 304, and the specified resolution acquired in step 303 is the reference resolution holding. It is determined whether or not the resolution is below the reference resolution held by the unit 35 (step 305).
As a result, when it is determined that the remaining capacity of the memory 106 is equal to or larger than four pages of the image data amount and the specified resolution is equal to or lower than the reference resolution, the mode setting unit 37 sets the reading operation mode in the image reading apparatus. The second mode is set (step 306).
On the other hand, when it is determined that the remaining capacity of the memory 106 is less than four pages of the image data amount or the designated resolution exceeds the reference resolution, the mode setting unit 37 reads the reading operation mode in the image reading apparatus. Is set to the first mode (step 307).

Next, the operation of the image reading apparatus when the first mode is set as the reading operation mode in step 307 will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the image reading apparatus at this time.
First, the document is transported by the document feeder 10 and the first surface of the document is read by the CCD image sensor 78 and the second surface of the same document is read by the CIS 50 (step 101). Among these, the color image data (surface image data) of the first surface of the document read by the CCD image sensor 78 is subjected to the first color image processing after being subjected to shading correction and gap correction by the signal processing unit 81. The unit 101 performs color conversion processing, gradation conversion processing (TRC), automatic exposure adjustment (AE), and the like to perform image quality adjustment such as background removal, gamut conversion, and gamma correction (step 102). Etc. (step 103).

  On the other hand, the color image data (back side image data) of the second side of the document read by the CIS 50 in step 101 is subjected to shading correction, gap correction, and the like by the signal processing unit 81, and then the second color image processing unit. In 102, color conversion processing, gradation conversion processing (TRC), automatic exposure adjustment (AE), and the like are performed to perform image quality adjustment such as background removal, gamut conversion, and gamma correction (step 104). Are output as 24-bit color image data. The 24-bit color image data consisting of 8 bits for each RGB color is stored in the memory 106 by the memory controller 107 (step 105). Then, after the output of the front surface image data in step 103 is completed, a memory read signal is output to the memory controller 107 (step 106), and the back surface image data stored in the memory 106 is converted into the first color image processing unit 101. Are output to an external device such as a printer or a PC (step 107). Then, it is determined whether or not there is a document to be read next (step 108). If there is a next document, the process returns to step 101 to continue the process. If there is no next document, the process is performed. Exit.

The operation of the image reading apparatus when the second mode is set as the reading operation mode in step 306 will be described.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the image reading apparatus at this time.
First, the document is transported by the document feeder 10, and the first surface of the document is read by the CCD image sensor 78 and the second surface of the same document is read by the CIS 50 (step 201). Of these, the surface image data read by the CCD image sensor 78 is subjected to shading correction, gap correction, and the like by the signal processing unit 81, and then subjected to image processing in the first color image processing unit 101. Resolution conversion is executed through a filter circuit or the like, and the input 600 dpi × 600 dpi surface image data is converted into 300 dpi × 600 dpi RGB data or La * b * data (step 202). On the other hand, the back surface image data read by the CIS 50 in step 201 is subjected to shading correction, gap correction, and the like by the signal processing unit 81, and then subjected to image processing in the second color image processing unit 102 and a filter. Resolution conversion is executed through a circuit or the like, and the input 600 dpi × 600 dpi back side image data is converted into RGB data or La * b * data of 300 dpi × 600 dpi (step 203). In addition, by reducing the resolution in the sub-scanning direction from 600 dpi to 300 dpi, the data amount of the front surface image data and the back surface image data after the resolution conversion is equal to the data amount of the front surface image data and the back surface image data before the resolution conversion. Each is half.

  Thereafter, the front surface image data whose resolution has been converted in step 202 and the back surface image data whose resolution has been converted in step 203 are stored in the memory 106 by the memory controller 107 (step 204). Here, the resolution-converted front surface image data and back surface image data are both half the data amount of 300 dpi × 600 dpi with respect to the image data of 600 dpi × 600 dpi. The image data for one sheet can be stored in the memory 106 provided.

  Then, it is determined whether there is a document to be read next (step 205). If the next original does not exist, a memory read signal is output to the memory controller 107 (step 206), and the front and back image data stored in the memory 106 is sent to the first color image processing unit 101. The data is output to an external device such as a printer or a PC (step 207), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the next original exists in step 205, a memory read signal is output to the memory controller 107 (step 208), and the front and back image data stored in the memory 106 is subjected to the first color image processing. The data is output to an external device via the unit 101 (step 209). In addition, while the front and back image data is being output, the next document is transported by the document feeder 10, the first surface of the document is read by the CCD image sensor 78, and the second surface of the same document is scanned by the CIS 50. Reading is performed (step 210). Of these, the surface image data read by the CCD image sensor 78 is subjected to shading correction, gap correction, and the like by the signal processing unit 81, and then subjected to image processing in the first color image processing unit 101. Resolution conversion is executed through a filter circuit or the like, and the input 600 dpi × 600 dpi surface image data is converted into 300 dpi × 600 dpi RGB data or La * b * data (step 211). On the other hand, the back surface image data read by the CIS 50 in step 210 is subjected to shading correction, gap correction, and the like by the signal processing unit 81, and then subjected to image processing in the second color image processing unit 102 and a filter. Resolution conversion is executed through a circuit or the like, and the input 600 dpi × 600 dpi backside image data is converted into 300 dpi × 600 dpi RGB data or La * b * data (step 212).

Thereafter, the front surface image data whose resolution has been converted in step 211 and the back surface image data whose resolution has been converted in step 212 are stored in the memory 106 by the memory controller 107 (step 213). Then, the process returns to step 205.
This is the end of the description of the present embodiment.

  In this embodiment, the user specifies the resolution (high resolution or low resolution). However, not only the resolution but also the image quality (high image quality or low image quality) can be specified, for example. Good. When the user designates a low image quality, a compression rate acquisition unit (not shown) acquires a predetermined compression rate, and compresses at that compression rate, thereby reducing the image capacity. An example of such a compression method is subsampling. Here, sub-sampling refers to a process of reducing the data amount by reducing the information amount of the color components of the color image. By such sub-sampling, the image capacity is halved, for example. In this case, the image data capacity used for determining the condition relating to the memory capacity in step 305 in FIG. Further, since the capacity of image data for one page is halved, both front and back images can be transferred within the reading time of one original even if the resolution is somewhat high. A larger value is set as the threshold used for the determination. As a result, the second mode can be selected even when a high resolution is specified as if the first mode was selected if the compression rate was not specified. Here, since the compression rate can be obtained by the user specifying the low image quality, this compression rate is an example of the compression rate according to the mode specified by the user. However, the user may directly specify the compression rate.

  The program for realizing this embodiment can be provided not only by communication means but also by storing it in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Document feeder, 30 ... Reading operation mode setting apparatus, 31 ... Memory capacity acquisition part, 32 ... Document size acquisition part, 33 ... Designated resolution acquisition part, 34 ... Image data amount calculation part, 35 ... Reference | standard resolution holding part, 36: Mode determination unit, 37: Mode setting unit, 70: Scanner device, 80: Processing device, 100: Image processing device

Claims (9)

Resolution acquisition means for acquiring a designated resolution designated by the user;
The designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition unit is equal to or lower than a reference resolution that is a resolution of the images on both sides that can be transferred within a time required for the image reading apparatus to read the images on both sides of the document in parallel. And a setting unit that sets the double-sided storage state in which the image on both sides is temporarily stored in the storage unit and then read out from the storage unit and transferred as the image of the designated resolution. An image reading control device.   The setting means stores the image reading device and one of the double-sided images in the storage means on the condition that the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition means exceeds the reference resolution. 2. The image reading control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading control apparatus is set to a single-sided storage state in which the other image of the two-sided images is temporarily stored in the storage unit and then read from the storage unit and transferred. Specifying means for specifying the size of the document;
A calculation unit for calculating a data capacity of the images on both sides based on the size specified by the specifying unit and the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition unit;
The setting means sets the image reading apparatus to the double-sided storage state under another condition that the data capacity calculated by the calculating means is not more than a predetermined reference capacity. Item 3. The image reading control device according to Item 1 or 2. It further comprises a compression rate acquisition means for acquiring a compression rate according to the mode specified by the user,
The image reading control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the calculation unit calculates a data capacity of the images on both sides based on the compression rate acquired by the compression rate acquisition unit.   5. The image reading control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the reference capacity is ¼ of the storage capacity of the storage unit. First reading means for reading an image on the first side of the document;
Second reading means for reading an image on the second surface of the document in parallel with reading of the image on the first surface by the first reading means;
Resolution acquisition means for acquiring a designated resolution designated by the user;
As one condition, the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition means is equal to or lower than a reference resolution that is a resolution of the images on both sides that can be transferred within the time required to read the images on both sides of the document. The image on the first surface read by the first reading means and the image on the second surface read by the second reading means are temporarily stored in the storage means and then read from the storage means. And an image reading apparatus comprising: control means for controlling the image to be transferred as an image having the designated resolution.   The control means, on the condition that the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition means exceeds the reference resolution, the image of the first surface read by the first reading means is the The image of the second surface transferred without being stored in the storage means and read by the second reading means is temporarily stored in the storage means and then read out from the storage means and transferred. The image reading apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image reading apparatus is controlled. First reading means for reading an image on the first side of the document;
Second reading means for reading an image on the second surface of the document in parallel with reading of the image on the first surface by the first reading means;
Resolution acquisition means for acquiring a designated resolution designated by the user;
As one condition, the designated resolution acquired by the resolution acquisition means is equal to or lower than a reference resolution that is a resolution of the images on both sides that can be transferred within the time required to read the images on both sides of the document. The image on the first surface read by the first reading means and the image on the second surface read by the second reading means are temporarily stored in the storage means and then read from the storage means. Control means for controlling the image to be transferred as an image of the specified resolution
An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms an image on the first surface and an image on the second surface controlled to be transferred by the control unit on a recording medium. On the computer,
A function to obtain the specified resolution specified by the user;
One condition is that the acquired designated resolution is equal to or less than a reference resolution that is a resolution of the images on both sides that can be transferred within the time required for the image reading device to read the images on both sides of the document in parallel. A program for realizing the function of setting the double-sided storage state in which the image reading device stores the double-sided image in the storage unit and then reads the image from the storage unit and transfers it as the image of the designated resolution.

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