JP2011133526A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to easily identify paper on which an important page, which has a part marked by using a marking pen or revised by using a color pen in an original, has been printed. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 1 includes: an image reading part 2 reading an image of an original; a determination part 31 determining whether or not it is the important page by page on the basis of image data of the original read by the image reading part 2; a printing part 5 printing the image of the original read by the image reading part 2 on a printing medium; and a tag supply part 6 sticking a tag to the printing medium on which the important page has been printed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that performs printing on paper or the like.

  In general, when printing is performed by a copy function in a printing apparatus, an image of a document is read by a scanner (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  A user may copy a document including a page marked with a marking pen (such as a highlighter pen) or added with a color pen such as a red pen by using a scanner. Then, when such a document is copied, there is a case where it is desired to identify a sheet on which a page with a mark or an added part is printed as an important page.

JP 2004-357010 A

  When a multi-page document is copied, even if the document contains important pages with marks or added parts as described above, they are stacked on the paper output tray together with the printed material of other pages. The paper on which the important page was printed could not be easily identified.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a printing apparatus that allows a user to easily identify a sheet on which an important page having a mark with a marking pen or a portion to which a color pen has been added is printed. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the first feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is that an image reading unit that reads an image of a document and an important page for each page based on image data of the document read by the image reading unit. A determination unit that determines whether or not there is a printing unit, a printing unit that prints an image of a document read by the image reading unit on a printing medium, and an identification body supply that mounts an identification body on the printing medium on which the important page is printed And providing a part.

  A second feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is that the determination unit determines a page including a predetermined number or more of color pixels as the important page in the image data of the document read as a monochrome document.

  A third feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is that the determination unit determines that a page having a region of a predetermined size or more surrounded by color pixels of a predetermined hue in the image data of the document is the important page. It is in.

  A fourth feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention is that the identifier has an adhesive portion having adhesiveness to the print medium, and the identifier supply portion adheres the identifier to the print medium. .

  According to the first feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, the user can easily identify a sheet on which an important page having a mark pen mark or a color pen mark is printed on a document. it can.

  According to the second feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to determine a page having an area read with a marking pen or a color pen on an original read as a monochrome original as an important page.

  According to the third feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, a page having an area marked with a marking pen of a predetermined hue can be determined as an important page.

  According to the fourth feature of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the identifier from dropping off.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an external view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic block diagram of a tag supply part. It is a figure which shows the state by which the tag was stuck on the paper. It is explanatory drawing of the calculation method of the saturation and hue angle of a pixel.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals. The following embodiments exemplify apparatuses and methods for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and the technical idea of the present invention is the following in terms of the structure and arrangement of components. It is not something specific.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes an image reading unit 2, an image processing unit 3, an operation input unit 4, a printing unit 5, a tag supply unit 6, and a control unit 7. Is provided.

  The image reading unit 2 includes a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, optically reads an original, and outputs image data of the read original.

  The image processing unit 3 converts R (red), G (green), and B (blue) image data obtained by reading by the image reading unit 2 into C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), In addition to conversion to K (black) image data, processing for conversion into data interpretable by the printing unit 5 is performed.

  Further, the image processing unit 3 includes a determination unit 31 that determines whether each page in the image data of the read document is an important page. In the present embodiment, an important page is a page where the user has marked with a marking pen (fluorescent pen or the like) or added with a color pen such as a red pen. The determination unit 31 determines whether each pixel in the image data is a color pixel, and uses this determination result to determine whether each page is an important page.

  The operation input unit 4 includes various operation keys and a touch panel (both not shown), receives a user operation, and outputs an operation signal based on the user operation to the control unit 7.

  The printing unit 5 has a printing mechanism such as an inkjet method, and forms an image on a sheet as a printing medium.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sticky note supply unit 6 is provided in a paper discharge unit 8 on which printed matter of the printing apparatus 1 is stacked, and a sticky note serving as an identification body for allowing a user to identify a sheet on which an important page is printed. Supply.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the tag supply unit 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the sticky note supply unit 6 includes a pair of rollers 62 that pulls out and transports a tape 61 wound in a roll shape. The tape 61 has, on the lower surface (lower surface) in the figure, an adhesive layer (not shown) that is softened by heating and produces adhesiveness to paper. As the adhesive, it is preferable to use an adhesive that can be easily peeled off even if it is adhered to the paper, and that no adhesive remains on the paper.

  A heating unit 63 that heats a part of the lower surface of the tape 61 to form an adhesive portion on the tape 61 and a cutter unit 64 that cuts the tape 61 are provided downstream of the roller 62 in the transport direction of the tape 61. It has been. The heating unit 63 is configured to be able to contact and separate from the tape 61 by a driving mechanism (not shown).

  The cutter unit 64 includes a movable blade 64a, a fixed blade 64b provided to face the movable blade 64a, and a cutter solenoid SLA that moves the movable blade 64a. When the transport of the tape 61 of a predetermined length is completed, the cutter unit 64 drives the movable blade 64a connected to the cutter solenoid SLA to cut the tape 61, and from the tape 61 of the predetermined length on which the adhesive portion is formed. A sticky note 61a is formed. The sticky note 61a is placed on the paper P on which the important page is printed, which is discharged onto the paper discharge tray of the paper discharge unit 8.

  A roller 65 for adhering the sticky note 61 a to the paper P is provided downstream of the cutter unit 64 in the transport direction of the tape 61. The roller 65 is configured to be movable in a direction perpendicular to and parallel to the paper surface of the paper P by a drive mechanism (not shown), and presses and adheres the sticky note 61 a to the paper P. As a result, the sticky note 61a is affixed to the paper P as shown in FIG. Since the sticky note 61a is adhered to the paper P, it does not drop off easily.

  The control unit 7 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory (none of which is shown) that stores a control program for the CPU, and the like. The CPU performs processing according to the control program, whereby the printing apparatus 1 as a whole. It controls the operation.

  In the printing apparatus 1, a user operates the operation input unit 4 so that a sticky note is attached to a sheet on which an important page, which is a page that is marked with a marking pen or a color pen on a document, is printed. Can be set. In this sticky tag setting, it is specified in advance whether the original to be read is a monochrome original or a color original to be copied by the image reading unit 2 by the user. In addition to the designation of the monochrome / color document, it is possible to set whether the scanned document is to be printed in monochrome or color.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the printing apparatus 1 when setting to attach a tag to an important page will be described.

  The image reading unit 2 reads a document and outputs image data. The image processing unit 3 converts the R, G, and B image data input from the image reading unit 2 into C, M, Y, and K image data and converts the data into data that can be interpreted by the printing unit 5. Etc. When monochrome printing is set, the image processing unit 3 converts R, G, and B image data into K-only image data.

  Further, the image processing unit 3 determines in the determination unit 31 whether each page is an important page.

  Here, when the document to be read is designated as a monochrome document by the user, the determination unit 31 determines whether each pixel in the image data is a color pixel, and includes a predetermined number or more of color pixels. The page is determined as an important page.

  An example of a color pixel determination method will be described. The determination unit 31 converts R, G, and B image data that has undergone predetermined processing into Y, Cb, and Cr data, points indicating pixels plotted on the CbCr plane in the YCbCr space, and the origin of the CbCr plane Is calculated as the saturation of the pixel. Y is a luminance value, and Cb and Cr are color difference values.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the saturation S of the pixel A having a Cb value of Cb1 and a Cr value of Cr1 is calculated by the following (Formula 1).

S = (Cr1 ² + Cb1 ² ) ^1/2 (Formula 1)
The determination unit 31 determines that a pixel whose saturation S calculated by the above (Equation 1) is greater than a preset threshold value S1 is a color pixel.

  Then, the determination unit 31 determines that a page including a predetermined number or more of color pixels set in advance in one page is an important page. In this way, it is possible to determine a page having a mark pen marking or a color pen writing portion in an original read as a monochrome original as an important page.

  On the other hand, when the document to be read is designated as a color document by the user, the determination unit 31 determines whether each pixel in the image data is a color pixel, obtains the hue of each color pixel, A page having an area of a predetermined size or more surrounded by color pixels of the hue of is determined as an important page.

  In this case, the determination unit 31 determines whether or not each pixel is a color pixel by the same method as in the case of monochrome document designation described above. Further, the determination unit 31 calculates the angle formed by the line connecting the point indicating the pixel on the CbCr plane and the origin of the CbCr plane and the Cb axis as the hue angle of the pixel. The hue angle θ of the pixel A in FIG. 5 is calculated by the following (Formula 2).

θ = tan ⁻¹ (Cr1 / Cb1) (Formula 2)
In the CbCr plane shown in FIG. 5, the hues R, G, B, C, M, and Y are divided by hue angles, and the hue angle ranges are determined in advance. For example, R: 20 ° to 70 °, Y: 70 ° to 110 °, G: 110 ° to 190 °, C: 190 ° to 240 °, B: 240 ° to 330 °, M: 330 ° to 20 ° is there.

  Based on the determination result of the color pixel and the calculation result of the hue angle, the determination unit 31 importantly selects a page having an area of a predetermined size or more surrounded by color pixels belonging to a predetermined hue (for example, Y) set in advance. Judge as a page. In this way, a page having an area marked with a marking pen of a predetermined hue can be determined as an important page.

  Even in the case of monochrome document designation, as in the case of color document designation, a page having a region of a predetermined size or more surrounded by color pixels of a predetermined hue may be determined as an important page. This completes the description of the important page determination method.

  The control unit 7 controls the printing unit 5 to perform printing based on the image data input from the image processing unit 3. At this time, when the control unit 7 prints the page determined to be an important page by the determination unit 31, the printing process is temporarily interrupted, and the tag supply unit 6 is controlled to control the tag P on the sheet P on which the important page is printed. Affix 61a.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not each page of the document read by the image reading unit 2 is an important page with a mark with a marking pen or a writing with a color pen. Since the sticky note 61a is affixed to the paper P on which the important page is printed, the user can easily identify the paper P on which the important page is printed from the printed material stacked on the paper discharge tray.

  In the present embodiment, the sticky note 61a having an adhesive portion is attached to the paper P in the sticky note supply unit 6. However, the identification body is not limited to the form of adhering to the paper P. For example, a tape having no adhesive portion is used as the identification body. It may be arranged on the paper P on which the important page is printed.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example has been shown in which R, G, B image data is converted into Y, Cb, Cr data, and the saturation S and hue angle θ of each pixel are calculated using this. Instead of Y, Cb, Cr data, L ^* a ^* b ^* is converted into L, a ^* , b ^* data in the display system, and this is used to calculate the saturation S and hue angle θ of each pixel. You may make it do.

  In the present embodiment, the form in which the sticky note supply unit 6 is provided in the printing apparatus 1 is shown. However, the finisher apparatus connected to the printing apparatus 1 is provided with the sticky note supply part 6 in the present embodiment. The sticky note 61a may be supplied using the sticky note supply unit 6 of the finisher device. In addition, an independent sticky note supply device having the same function as the sticky note supply unit 6 of the present embodiment may be connected to the printing apparatus 1, and the sticky note 61a may be supplied using this sticky note supply device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printing apparatus 2 Image reading part 3 Image processing part 4 Operation input part 5 Printing part 6 Sticky note supply part 7 Control part 8 Paper discharge part 61 Tape 61a Sticky note 62 Roller 63 Heating part 64 Cutter part 65 Roller P Paper

Claims (4)

An image reading unit for reading an image of a document;
A determination unit that determines whether each page is an important page based on image data of a document read by the image reading unit;
A printing unit that prints an image of a document read by the image reading unit on a printing medium;
And a discriminator supply unit for placing the discriminator on a print medium on which the important page is printed.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that a page including a predetermined number or more of color pixels in the image data of the document read as a monochrome document is the important page.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that a page having an area of a predetermined size or more surrounded by color pixels of a predetermined hue in the image data of the document is the important page. The identifier has an adhesive portion having adhesiveness to a print medium,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification body supply unit adheres the identification body to a print medium.

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