JP2011250347A - Image reading apparatus, image forming apparatus, image processing method program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus capable of performing identification processing after a power is turned on at an early stage before reset release.SOLUTION: This apparatus comprises an image reading means reading a manuscript to output as image data, an image processing means 242 performing an image processing of the output image data, and a control means 241 communicating with the image reading means and the image processing means 242 and controlling the processes performed by these means. A sensor substrate 220 comprises information input means inputting identification information for identifying the sensor substrate 220 to the image processing means 242. The control means 241 requests the image processing means 242 in response to power-ON for acquisition of the identification information to be input to the image processing means 242, determines whether or not the identification information acquired from the image processing means 242 matches identification information registered in advance, if so, is launched at the time of power supply, and transmits a signal for releasing a reset state to the sensor substrate 220 in the reset state.

Description

  The present invention provides an image reading apparatus capable of performing a process of identifying a sensor substrate at an early stage immediately after turning on the apparatus and before reset release, an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus, a method thereof, and the method The present invention relates to a computer-readable program for executing the program and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  An image forming apparatus such as a FAX apparatus, a copier, an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral), or a digital multifunction machine reads an original image with a photoelectric conversion element (CCD), converts analog data of the read image into digital data, and outputs the image. A reading device is provided.

  Here, FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an image forming apparatus including an image reading apparatus. The image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a main body 100, an image reading device 200 installed on the upper portion of the main body 100, and an automatic document feeder (ADF) 300 mounted thereon. Yes. The main body 100 includes a large-capacity paper feeding device 400 that can stock and feed a large amount of paper, and a paper discharge post-processing device 500 that performs processing after the printed paper is discharged.

  The main body 100 performs double-sided printing, an image writing unit 110 that writes an image, an image forming unit 120 that forms an image to be printed on a sheet and transfers the image to the sheet, a fixing unit 130 that fixes the transferred image on the sheet. In this case, the double-sided conveyance unit 140 that reverses the sheet, the sheet feeding unit 150 that feeds the sheet supplied from the large-capacity sheet feeding device 400 to the image forming unit 120, and the sheet picked up in the horizontal direction parallel to the ground Are provided in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal direction, and a manual feed portion 170 that enables paper to be supplied from other than the large-capacity paper feeding device 400.

  The image writing unit 110 modulates a laser diode (LD), which is a light emission source, based on the image information of the original read by the image reading device 200, and is applied to the photosensitive drum 121 by a scanning optical system such as a polygon mirror and an fθ lens. Laser writing is performed. The image forming unit 120 includes a known electrophotographic system such as a photosensitive drum 121 and a developing unit 122, a transfer unit 123, a cleaning unit 124, a charging unit, and a charge eliminating unit provided along the outer periphery of the photosensitive drum 121. It is composed of image forming elements.

  Briefly, the surface of the photosensitive drum 121 is charged by a charging unit, and laser light from the image writing unit 110 is irradiated thereon, and laser writing is performed. On the surface of the photosensitive drum 121 on which laser writing has been performed, an invisible latent image with an electrostatic charge distributed in an image shape is formed. When toner is supplied from a toner cartridge provided in the developing unit 122, It adheres to the surface of the charged photosensitive drum 121 and is visualized so as to be visible. The visualized image is a toner image on which toner is placed, and is transferred by the transfer unit 123 to a sheet supplied to the rotating photosensitive drum 121.

  In some cases, toner remains on the photosensitive drum 121 after the transfer. In order to remove the toner adhering to the surface of the photosensitive drum 121, the photosensitive drum 121 is neutralized by the neutralizing unit, and the cleaning unit. The toner is removed by 124. As a result, the next writing can be performed.

  The fixing unit 130 fixes the toner image transferred onto the sheet by the transfer unit 123 by applying heat and pressure. Therefore, the fixing unit 130 can include a heating unit and a pressure roller.

  The double-sided conveyance unit 140 is provided on the downstream side of the sheet conveyance direction in the fixing unit 130, and the sheet conveyance direction is switched to the paper discharge post-processing device 500 side or the double-sided conveyance unit 140 side for duplex printing. 1 switching claw 141 and a reverse conveyance path 142 for reversing the conveyed paper when the first switching claw 141 is switched to the double-sided conveyance unit 140 side, and conveying the reversed paper to the image forming unit 120 again. The image forming side conveying path 143 to be transferred, the post-processing side conveying path 144 for conveying the inverted paper to the paper discharge post-processing apparatus 500 side, and the branching point of the image forming side conveying path 143 and the post-processing side conveying path 144 And a second switching claw 145 for switching the paper transport direction.

  The sheet feeding unit 150 is composed of, for example, four sheet feeding stages, and pulls out the sheets stored in the sheet feeding stages selected by the pickup roller and the sheet feeding roller, respectively, and sends them to the vertical conveyance unit 160. The vertical conveyance unit 160 includes a registration roller 161 provided immediately before the sheet feeding direction upstream of the sheet feeding direction in the image forming unit 120, and conveys the sheet to the registration roller 161. The registration roller 161 feeds the paper to the transfer unit 123 in time with the leading edge of the visualized image on the photosensitive drum 121.

  The manual feed unit 170 includes an openable and closable manual feed tray 171. The manual feed tray 171 is opened as necessary, and paper is placed on the manual feed tray 171 to feed paper. Also in this case, the sheet is fed by the registration roller 161 at the conveyance timing.

  The large-capacity paper feeding device 400 is a device that stacks and feeds a large amount of paper of the same size, and is configured so that the bottom plate 402 rises as the paper is consumed and the paper is always picked up from the pickup roller 401. Has been. Note that the sheet picked up by the pickup roller 401 is conveyed from the vertical conveyance unit 160 to the nip of the registration roller 161.

  The post-discharge processing apparatus 500 is an apparatus that performs predetermined processing such as punching, alignment, stapling, and sorting, and includes a punch 501, a staple tray 502, a stapler 503, and a shift tray 504 in order to realize these functions. ing. When the paper discharged from the main body 100 is supplied to the post-processing side conveyance path 144, it is sent to the paper discharge post-processing device 500, and when it is instructed to punch holes, it is sent to the punch 501. Then, perforation is performed for each sheet. After that, the paper is discharged to the proof tray 505 when no instruction is given to perform the processing.

  When instructed to perform sorting, stacking, and sorting, the sheets are discharged onto the shift tray 504, respectively. Sorting can be performed by reciprocating the shift tray 504 by a predetermined amount in a direction orthogonal to the sheet conveyance direction, that is, in the vertical direction as described above. The sorting can also be performed by moving the paper in the vertical direction on the paper transport path.

  When instructed to perform the alignment, the paper that has been perforated or the paper that has not been perforated is sent to the lower transport path 506 and is perpendicular to the transport direction of the paper at the trailing edge fence in the staple tray 504. Direction alignment is performed, and alignment in the horizontal direction parallel to the sheet conveyance direction is performed by the Jongar fence. Here, when instructed to perform stapling, a predetermined position of the aligned sheet bundle, for example, a predetermined position such as a corner portion or two central positions is bound by the stapler 503 and discharged to the shift tray 504 by the discharge belt. Is done.

  Further, a pre-stack conveyance path 507 is provided in the lower conveyance path 506 so that a plurality of sheets can be stacked at the time of conveyance so that interruption of the image forming operation of the main body 100 during post-processing can be avoided. Has been.

  The image reading apparatus 200 optically scans a document table 210 on which a document conveyed by the ADF 300 is placed and a document on the document table 210, and forms an image with an imaging lens through first to third mirrors. It includes a CCD for reading the read image. The image data read by the CCD is sent to an image processing circuit (not shown), and the image processing circuit performs image processing and stores it in a storage device. Thereafter, the image writing unit 110 reads the image from the storage device during image formation, modulates the image based on the image data, and performs laser writing.

  The ADF 300 has a double-sided document reading function and is attached to the surface of the document table 210 of the image reading apparatus 200 so as to be freely opened and closed. The ADF 300 includes a plurality of rollers, picks up a document with these rollers, and conveys the document onto the document table 210.

  In the reading operation of the image reading apparatus 200, when the pressure plate is read, the carriage moves in the sub-scanning direction, and the reflected light from the original is read as original information, and the reflected light is imaged on the CCD via the lens. In FIG. 2, it is converted into an analog electric signal by photoelectric conversion. The reflector reflects the light from the scanner lamp so that it strikes the document, thereby adjusting the light quantity profile. The obtained analog electric signal is subjected to analog processing and digital processing, and image information is read as digital data.

  In order to make the main scanning distribution of the original uniform, shading correction is performed. The reading data of the white reference plate for that purpose is read and acquired every time before the original is read. The white reference plate is installed to obtain reference data serving as a target value for the white level. When the ADF 300 performs sheet-through reading, the carriage moves to a position directly below the white reference plate before the document is sent to the reading surface by the sheet-through conveyance drum, and then moves to the document reading position to read the document. Has been.

  With reference to FIG. 2, the configuration of the sensor substrate and the image processing substrate provided in the image reading apparatus 200 and the flow of image data processing will be described. The sensor substrate 220 includes a CCD 221, a buffer 222, an analog processing unit, a power generation unit 227, a crystal resonator 228, a signal generation unit 229, and a POR 230. The analog processing means includes a clamp 223, an S / H circuit 224, a PGA 225, and an A / D converter 226.

  The image data read by the CCD 221 is an analog electric signal, and is sent to the analog processing means via the buffer 222 and the AC coupling in order to process the analog signal. The buffer 222 buffers the analog signal sent from the CCD 221 and sends the analog signal to the clamp 223 for performing a line clamp operation. The analog signal after performing the line clamp operation is sent to the S / H circuit 224, the sample hold operation is performed, and then the operation is sent to the PGA 225, the gain adjustment is performed, and the digital signal is converted by the A / D converter 226. The AC coupling is employed to detect a measurement signal that is a small AC signal superimposed on the DC component.

  Specifically, the S / H circuit 224 changes so that the voltage applied to the A / D converter 226 does not change while the A / D converter 226 performs the conversion to digital data (image data). Maintains the instantaneous value of the analog signal. Then, amplitude information is extracted from the analog image signal output from the CCD 221. The PGA 225 receives the amplitude information extracted by the S / H circuit 224, adjusts the gain to effectively use the dynamic range of the A / D converter 226, amplifies it to an appropriate level, and then sends it to the A / D converter 226. send.

  The power generation unit 227 generates and outputs a predetermined power supply voltage supplied into the sensor substrate 220 from the power supply for the image reading apparatus 200. The crystal resonator 228 generates a source oscillation clock by applying a voltage, and sends it to the signal generation means 229. A POR (power-on reset) 230 generates a reset signal to send all the internal circuits to an initial state when the power is turned on, and sends the reset signal to the signal generator 229. The signal generating means 229 converts the frequency to m times and supplies the multiplied clock to the A / D converter 226. Further, the signal generating means 229 gives a synchronization signal (L_SYNC) to the image processing means 242 so that the image processing means 242 can take the timing for receiving the image data, and a communication signal with the control means 241. Exchange.

  The image processing board 240 includes the control means 241 and the image processing means 242 described above. The control unit 241 is driven by receiving the power supply for the image reading apparatus 200, communicates with the signal generation unit 229, sends a communication signal to the image processing unit 242, and performs a series of image processing on the image processing unit 242. To run.

  The image processing board 240 receives the image data of the original from the A / D converter 226 of the sensor board 220, but the image data is transmitted as it is in N-bit parallel or LVDS ( Low-voltage differential transmission) is transmitted from a driver (not shown) of the sensor board 220, and a receiver included in the image processing board 240 receives it. The image processing board 240 uses a dedicated image processing IC (for example, ASIC) to execute various image processing such as level detection and shading correction of transmitted image data, and the processed data is stored in the image writing unit 110. Send to.

  The level check of the image data is performed by the control unit 241 accessing a register included in the image processing unit 242 so that the maximum value, the minimum value, the average value, etc. of the image data group within the period of the line synchronization signal input from the outside. Can know. The image level of the image data is used for gain adjustment performed using a white reference plate.

  The image data group within the period of the line synchronization signal input from the outside is as shown in FIG. 3 as an example. FIG. 3 shows one line period on the horizontal axis and the image level on the vertical axis. The maximum value, the minimum value, and the average value of the image data in one line can be obtained from the image data in one line by using the level detection function of the image processing IC.

  The sensor substrate 220 is made according to the model depending on the performance, processing speed, specifications, etc., but a different type of sensor substrate was mistakenly mounted in the inspection process of the image reading apparatus 200 or the image forming apparatus. In this case, ID information is added to the sensor board 220 for each model so that the software can automatically detect when the power is turned on by communication from the control means 241. The ID information is electronic identification information that can be read by a register or the like for identifying the sensor substrate 220. For example, ID information can be used as a numerical value such as model A = “100” or model B = “150”.

  In addition to this, the ID information can be used to identify the sensor board and branch the setting and processing of the sensor board 220 when common software is used for different models by reducing development man-hours. it can.

  A conventional process for identifying the sensor substrate 220 will be described with reference to FIGS. This process starts when the power is turned on in step 400, and in step 405, it is confirmed whether the power supply of each substrate has become a predetermined voltage or higher. If not, the determination in step 405 is performed again. In step 410, the reset of the sensor substrate 220 is released, and a drive signal, a gate signal, and the like for driving the CCD 221 used for image reading are output from the signal generation unit 229, and the signal generation unit 229 and the control unit 241 Communication between them becomes possible. Then, the control unit 241 starts processing on the sensor substrate 220.

  In step 415, the reset release confirmation is performed once immediately after the reset release. If the reset has not been released, the process proceeds to step 440, and after retrying, a communication error or a power supply error is detected and notified to the user or service. On the other hand, if released, the process proceeds to step 420, and first, soft reset processing is performed. Thereafter, the process waits for a predetermined time in step 425, and the soft reset is canceled in step 430.

  Next, in step 435, communication is performed to confirm the initialization of each device, and it is confirmed whether or not the initialization is completed. If not completed, the process proceeds to step 445, where a retry error is detected, a reset error is detected, and this is notified to the user and service. This is because there is a case where the register value does not return to the initial value even in the initialization confirmation.

  On the other hand, if it is completed, the process proceeds to step 450, where a read command is transmitted from the control means 241 to the sensor substrate 220, and the ID information of the sensor substrate 220 determined by the memory, device terminal state, etc. is read and registered in advance. If they are the same, it is determined that the connection is correct, and the processing is terminated at step 460. On the other hand, if the values are different, the connection is not correct, so the process proceeds to step 455 where an ID error is detected and notified to the user or service. After the notification, the process ends at step 460 without performing the subsequent process.

  By changing the value of the memory on the sensor substrate 220 and the terminal state of the device for each model, the ID information of the sensor substrate 220 can be individually set for each model. When the operation speed is switched, it is identified by this ID information, and the subsequent processing can be branched.

  As a technology for reading the ID information of the sensor substrate 220 and identifying the sensor substrate 220, for example, when the power is turned on, the ID information stored in the mounting substrate of the image reading unit is acquired through the communication unit. By generating a frequency clock signal corresponding to the input speed and output speed according to the acquired ID information and outputting it to the input interface unit and the output interface unit, even when the image reading unit and the mounting board are different, Some image processing units are shared to reduce costs (see Patent Document 1).

  This technique is characterized in that the processing is changed according to the ID information, or an error is returned if the ID information is incompatible.

  When acquiring ID information of the sensor board via communication as described above and checking whether it is the same as a pre-registered value, priority is given to reset release confirmation, initialization confirmation of various devices, and standby processing. Since the control means reads the ID information for the first time after it has been performed, there is a problem that it takes time.

  In addition, when communication is not possible, such as when the communication line is disconnected, the ID information of the sensor board cannot be read, and therefore it cannot be determined whether the ID information is acceptable.

  Furthermore, when the process is branched according to the ID information, the series of processes and weights from the reset release to the completion of the ID identification process for identifying the sensor substrate by the ID information are the same even if the ID information is divided. Depending on the information, if this series of processes and weights are inappropriate for the specifications and operating speed of the sensor board, the sensor board may malfunction or be adjusted during this time.

  Therefore, it has been desired to provide a method and apparatus capable of performing ID identification processing at an early stage after the power is turned on and before reset release.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an image reading unit that reads a document and outputs it as image data, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data output from the image reading unit, and the image reading unit, An image reading apparatus that communicates with the image processing unit and includes the image reading unit and a control unit that controls processing performed by the image processing unit, wherein the image reading unit identifies the image reading unit Information input means for inputting the identification information to the image processing means, and the control means responds to the start of power supply to the image reading device with respect to the image processing means. Requesting acquisition of the identification information inputted to the image processing unit, determining whether the identification information acquired from the image processing means is the same as the previously registered identification information, and the same In some cases, start with the power supply, is configured to transmit a signal for releasing the reset to said image reading means in a reset state.

  Without adopting POR, the control means acquires ID information from the detected image level, executes ID identification processing based on the ID information, and then transmits a signal for releasing the reset to the image reading means Therefore, after the power is turned on, the ID identification process can be performed at an early stage before reset release.

  The image reading unit includes an output unit for outputting the image data to the image processing unit, the output unit includes a plurality of bit lines, and the information input unit is connected to each bit line. The identification information includes an up resistor or a pull-down resistor, and the identification information is set by the pull-up resistor or the pull-down resistor connected to each bit line. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to read and acquire ID information after power-on and before reset release.

  When the image reading means is mounted on the sensor board and the analog signal processing means, A / D conversion means, LVDS driver, etc. constituting the image reading means are integrated into one IC, and each bit of the digital data cannot be output to the outside There can be. In such a case, a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor cannot be connected to each bit line on the sensor substrate. Therefore, output of image data at the time of reset can be determined according to the state of the external terminal of the IC.

  Therefore, the image reading means includes an integrated circuit (IC) having a plurality of terminals, and the image reading device outputs an output value of image data output at the time of reset according to the state of the plurality of terminals. Level switching means for switching between can be further provided.

  Whether or not the identification information is the same depends on whether or not the output value output from the image reading unit and input to the image processing unit is the same as the output value corresponding to the previously registered identification information. Can be determined. Since the ID information of the sensor substrate is added to the plurality of bit lines, the output values from the plurality of bit lines are input to the existing image processing means, and the ID is identified by the output values, so that the existing information is identified. ID identification processing can be performed by the system, and communication with a sensor substrate used for ID identification processing is not required.

  The control means determines whether or not the output value input to the image processing means is the same as the output value corresponding to the pre-registered identification information, and according to the result of the determination a plurality of times. It is possible to determine whether to transmit a signal for canceling the reset or to notify an error. It is possible to prevent erroneous detection even when the control means starts the ID identification process due to a state in which the power source has not yet started up on the sensor substrate or instantaneous noise.

  The control means determines the number of times designated in advance, and can determine that a power supply error has occurred when 0 is acquired as the output value for all the times. In addition, as a result of the determination of the number of times, the same output value is continuously acquired. However, if the output value is different from the output value corresponding to the previously registered identification information, it can be determined as an ID error. As a result of the determination of the number of times, a signal for canceling the reset can be transmitted when the same output value is obtained continuously and is the same as the output value corresponding to the identification information registered in advance. . As described above, the control unit performs reset cancellation after determining that the ID information is correct, thereby preventing malfunction until ID identification.

  In the present invention, in addition to the image reading apparatus, an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus can be provided, and an image processing method including the above-described sensor substrate identification process executed by the image reading apparatus, and the method thereof It is also possible to provide a computer-readable program for executing the above and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus including a conventional image reading apparatus. The figure which showed the structure of the sensor board | substrate with which the conventional image reading apparatus is provided, and an image processing board | substrate. The figure which showed the image level of the image data group within the period of the line synchronizing signal input from the outside. The flowchart figure which showed the flow of the ID identification process of the conventional sensor board | substrate. The figure which showed the state change of the image reading apparatus from power ON to ID identification process. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a sensor substrate and an image processing substrate provided in the image reading apparatus of the present invention. The figure which showed the structural example of the image data output means on the sensor board | substrate of the image reading apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of ID identification processing performed in the image reading apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The figure which showed the state change of the image reading apparatus from power ON to ID identification process. The figure which showed the image level input in 1 line immediately after power ON. The figure which showed the logic state of each bit line. The figure which showed the image level input in 1 line when starting up normally. The figure which showed the structural example of the image data output means in the case of using an LVDS driver. The figure which showed another structural example of the sensor board | substrate with which the image reading apparatus of this invention is provided, and an image processing board | substrate.

  The image reading apparatus of the present invention includes a sensor board 220 and an image processing board 240 as in the configuration of the conventional apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but a reset signal (XRESET) for controlling resetting of the sensor board 220. Is not provided, and is configured to output a reset signal from the control means 241. An example of the configuration is shown in FIG.

  The sensor substrate 220 includes a CCD 221, a buffer 222, a clamp 223, an S / H circuit 224, a PGA 225, an A / D converter 226, a power generation unit 227, a crystal resonator 228, and a signal generation unit 229, as in the configuration of the conventional device. And functions as image reading means. Since the processing performed by these is the same as that of the conventional apparatus, description thereof is omitted. Since this image reading apparatus does not output a reset signal for releasing the reset in the sensor substrate 220, the POR 230 is not provided as in the conventional apparatus.

  Similar to the configuration of the conventional apparatus, the image processing board 240 includes a control unit 241 and an image processing unit 242, and the control unit 241 that communicates with the signal generation unit 229 sends a reset signal to the signal generation unit 229. It is configured to output. The control unit 241 also outputs a gate signal necessary for detecting an image level that is an output value of image digital data output by the digital data output unit indicated by a broken line including the A / D converter 226, and performs image processing. It is configured to input to the means 242 as DMY_SYNC.

  When the power supply of the image reading apparatus 200 is turned on, the power supply of the sensor substrate 220 is turned on, and the power supply of the control unit 241 is also turned on. When the power supply of the sensor substrate 220 is turned on, the control unit 241 is reset, that is, XRESET = Low.

  The control unit 241 sends a gate signal of DMY_SYNC to the image processing unit 242 and causes the image processing unit 242 to start detecting the image level. The image processing unit 242 detects the image level input by the digital data output unit of the sensor substrate 220 whose power is turned on. The control unit 241 communicates with the image processing unit 242, acquires the image level detected by the image processing unit 242, and the image level is used as identification information for identifying the sensor substrate 220 registered in advance in the self. It is determined whether the image level is the same as the ID information. As the ID information, an image level input by the digital data output unit of the sensor substrate 220 can be used.

  If they are the same, since the correct sensor substrate 220 is connected, it is determined that the sensor board 220 has passed, and a reset signal is sent to the signal generating means 229. When this signal is sent, the reset state is released, that is, XRESET = High. On the other hand, if they are different, the correct sensor board 220 is not connected, so an error is notified to the user or service.

  In order to realize the above processing, the digital data output means is configured as shown in FIG. The digital data output means shown in FIG. 7 uses 8 bits in the bits of the image data, which is digital data, for the ID identification process. A bit line from bit 0 to bit 7 is connected to the A / D converter 226 to constitute an output unit. A pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor is connected to each bit line constituting the output unit. Note that a pull-up resistor is connected only to the bit line of bit 7, and a pull-down resistor is not connected. Therefore, this bit line cannot output 0 digitally. For this reason, this bit line always outputs only 1 in digital form.

  In this way, if only 1 is always output, the entire image level does not become 0 in the ID identification process after the power is turned on. When 0 is detected, it can be considered that this bit 7 is 0, that is, the power is not supplied. In this example, the ID information given to the sensor board 220 is assumed to be decimal 170, so that bit 0 is a pull-down resistor, bit 1 is a pull-up resistor, bit 2 is a pull-down resistor, and bit 3 is a pull-up resistor. A pull-down resistor is connected to bit 4, a pull-up resistor is connected to bit 5, a pull-down resistor is connected to bit 6, and a pull-up resistor is connected to bit 7. The pull-up resistor outputs 1 and the pull-down resistor outputs 0. From this, the bit string is 01010101 in binary number, which is 170 in decimal number.

  With reference to FIG. 8, the ID identification process flow for acquiring the ID information given to the sensor substrate 220 and determining whether the ID information matches the registered ID information will be described in detail. First, processing is started by turning on the power from Step 800, and in Step 805, it is determined whether the power of the image processing board 240 has been turned on. The determination as to whether or not the power has risen can be determined based on whether or not power is supplied to the control means 241 and, more specifically, whether or not the power supply is started and the voltage of the substrate reaches a predetermined voltage. . If it has not risen, it is determined in step 805 whether it has risen again.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the image processing board 240 has risen, the process proceeds to step 810 to start processing by the control means 241. The control means 241 first outputs a gate signal called DMY_SYNC to the image processing means 242 at step 815.

  Next, in step 820, the image processing means 242 that has received the signal detects the image level input by the sensor substrate 220. Specifically, the control unit 241 transmits a dedicated command, that is, a request for detecting the image level, to the register of the image processing unit 242, and causes the image processing unit 242 to start detecting the input image level. When the image processing means 242 detects the image level, as shown in FIG. 10, the image level input in one line is always a constant value. In step 825, the control means 241 obtains the information and determines whether the image level is zero.

  The image level of 0 is a state in which the power of the sensor board 220 is not yet turned on as shown in FIG. 9, but considering a transient state such as the rise of the power of the sensor board 220 being slower than the image processing means 242. Instead of immediately determining that there is a power supply error, the process returns to step 820 and the detection of the image level is repeated n times. The detection of the image level can be performed by setting a predetermined register of the image processing IC and reading values such as the maximum value, the minimum value, and the average value of the image in one line at that time. In step 830, it is determined whether the image level has been detected n times. If not detected, the process returns to step 820. If detected, 0 is detected n times, and the process proceeds to step 835. , Detected as a power error, and notifies the user or service of the power error.

  When 0 is detected in all the times (n times) corresponding to the difference in power-on rise time between the sensor substrate 220 and the image processing substrate 240, it is determined that power is not supplied, and is detected as a power supply error. is there.

  At normal times, the power supply is turned on and the image level changes to a constant value within n times. The bit line to which the pull-up resistor is connected is 1, the bit line to which the pull-down resistor is connected is 0, and these are input to the image processing means 242 of the image processing board 240. The logical state of each bit line is as shown in FIG. 11 when the power is turned on at the time of resetting. When this is expressed in decimal, it is 170. Incidentally, it is 0 when the power is turned off, and is a value corresponding to the reflected light of the document after the power is turned on and the reset is released. Here, although it is described as reflected light, in the case of a device having a light source on the side of the original cover, the value corresponds to transmitted light detected through the original.

  Since this logical state is directly input to the image processing means 242, when the control means 241 accesses the register of the image processing means 242, the level of the image data is input within one line as shown in FIG. The image level is always constant 170. Since the image level read by accessing the register of the image processing means 242 is the same as the value 170 added to the sensor substrate 220, it can be determined that the correct sensor substrate 220 is connected.

  It is desirable to determine that the correct sensor substrate 220 is connected when this determination can be made not only once but continuously a plurality of times, for example, m times. This is because the image level input in one line is always constant, so that the same value can be detected even if detected multiple times. Thereby, at the time of image level detection, instantaneous noise is superimposed on the image data line, and even if the value of the input image level changes, it is ensured that no ID error is erroneously detected.

  The output image level in the reset state can be used as the ID information of the sensor board 220, and the ID information can be changed by changing the pull-up / pull-down state of the sensor board 220 for each model. The identification process can be performed immediately after the power is turned on.

  The sensor board 220 is integrated into an integrated circuit (IC) having a plurality of terminals as analog signal processing means including a clamp 223, an S / H circuit 224, a PGA 225, and an A / D converter 226, and each bit of image data is It may not be possible to output to the outside. In this case, a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor cannot be connected to each bit of the image data on the sensor substrate 220. Therefore, the same effect can be obtained by using a signal processing IC having a function of determining the image data output value in the reset state from the terminal state. The signal processing IC can switch the output value of the image data output at the time of reset according to the state of the plurality of terminals.

  If the image level is detected to be a constant value, 170 in this case, the process proceeds to step 840, and it is determined whether or not the same value as that value has been detected continuously m times.

  Referring to FIG. 8 again, if m times have not been reached, the process returns to step 820 to detect the image level again. If it has reached m times, the process proceeds to step 845 to determine whether the image level is 170 or not.

  If the image level is detected 170 times m consecutively, the process proceeds to step 850, reset is released, and in step 860, the ID identification process is terminated. After it is determined that the connection is correct in the ID identification processing, the reset signal XRESET is set to High from the control unit 241 to release the reset of the sensor substrate 220, and normal communication confirmation and device initialization processing are performed. At the same time, a drive signal for each device on the sensor substrate 220 is generated, an analog signal obtained by the CCD 221 passes through various processing blocks, and normal image data from the A / D converter 226 is converted into digital data as image processing means 242. The transmission is started. The A / D converter 226 is connected to a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor. If the constant is increased, the drive capability of the LVDS driver of the A / D converter 226 is sufficiently high (the output impedance is low). Therefore, there is no problem in the transmission of image data during normal operation after reset release.

  On the other hand, if the same image level is detected m times continuously, but the level is not 170, the process proceeds to step 855, where it is detected as an ID error, and at this point, the process is stopped, and the ID error is detected by the user or service. Notify them. In this way, the ID information of the sensor board 220 is transmitted using the existing digital data line composed of a plurality of bit lines, and the ID identification process is performed. Therefore, immediately after the power is turned on regardless of the communication state ID identification processing can be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 13, when the LVDS transmission method is used as the digital data output method, a clock is required for transmission. As this clock, as shown in FIG. 14, the clock of the source oscillation by the crystal resonator 228 of the sensor substrate 220 can be used. Since the logic of a digital data line including a plurality of bit lines is determined by a pull-up / pull-down resistor connected to each bit line, the image processing means 242 always has a fixed image level regardless of the operation speed. Is input. For this reason, if the source oscillation is within the rated frequency of the device, the ID identification process is not affected. Normally, it is necessary to input a synchronization signal representing one line of the image to the image processing means 242 in order to detect the image level. However, since it is not possible to distinguish whether the image data is normal, the control means The synchronization signal DMY_SYNC from 241 can be detected even if it is not a regular one line cycle.

  After reset release, as shown in FIG. 14, the source clock is switched from the normal oscillation clock to the normal multiplication clock, and DMY_SYNC is switched to the normal line synchronization signal L_SYNC. Thereby, the image processing means 242 can receive the image data output from the digital data output means in synchronization. In this embodiment, image data is output and transmitted from the LVDS driver 231 for the purpose of noise reduction or the like, received by the LVDS receiver 243 in the image processing board 240, and sent to the image processing means 242.

  In the present embodiment, the ID identification process using eight bit lines has been described as shown in FIG. 7, but the present invention is not limited to this, and ID identification is performed according to the model development and the sensor board 220 lineup. If the number of bits required for processing is increased, the problem of insufficient ID numbers does not occur.

  As has been described for the image reading apparatus of the present invention and the processing performed by the apparatus, by providing the apparatus and method, the power is turned on by using the digital data of the image signal and performing ID identification processing. Thereafter, it is possible to perform the ID identification process at an early stage before reset release.

  In the present invention, an image reading apparatus, an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus, an image processing method including the ID identification process described above, a computer-readable program for executing the method, and the program are recorded. It is possible to provide a recording medium such as an FD, a CD, a DVD, or an SD card.

  The present invention has been described with the above-described embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art will conceive other embodiments, additions, changes, deletions, and the like. It can be changed within the range that can be performed, and any embodiment is included in the scope of the present invention as long as the operation and effect of the present invention are exhibited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Main body, 110 ... Image writing part, 120 ... Image forming part, 121 ... Photosensitive drum, 122 ... Developing unit, 123 ... Transfer unit, 124 ... Cleaning unit, 130 ... Fixing part, 140 ... Double-sided conveyance part, 141 ... First switching claw, 142... Reverse conveying path, 143... Image forming side conveying path, 144 .. Post-processing side conveying path, 145... Second switching claw, 150. Registration roller, 170: Manual feed section, 171: Manual feed tray, 200 ... Image reading device, 210 ... Document table, 220 ... Sensor substrate, 221 ... CCD, 222 ... Buffer, 223 ... Clamp, 224 ... S / H circuit, 225 ... PGA, 226 ... A / D converter, 227 ... power generation means, 228 ... crystal oscillator, 229 ... signal generation means, 230 ... POR, 231 ... LVD Driver 240 ... Image processing board 241 ... Control means 242 ... Image processing means 243 ... LVDS receiver 300 ... ADF 400 ... Paper feeding device 401 ... Pickup roller 402 ... Bottom plate 500 ... Post-discharge processing device 501 ... Punch, 502 ... Staple tray, 503 ... Stapler, 504 ... Shift tray, 505 ... Proof tray, 506 ... Lower conveyance path, 507 ... Prestack conveyance path

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-166078

Claims (19)

An image reading unit that reads a document and outputs it as image data, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data output from the image reading unit, and communicates with the image reading unit and the image processing unit, An image reading apparatus including the image reading unit and a control unit that controls processing performed by the image processing unit,
The image reading means includes information input means for inputting identification information for identifying the image reading means to the image processing means,
In response to the start of power supply to the image reading device, the control means requests the image processing means to obtain the identification information input to the image processing means, and the image processing means It is determined whether or not the identification information acquired from the above and the identification information registered in advance are the same, and if they are the same, the system is activated with the power supply and the reset is released to the image reading unit in the reset state An image reading apparatus that transmits a signal for performing the operation. The image reading unit includes an output unit for outputting the image data to the image processing unit, and the output unit includes a plurality of bit lines,
The information input means includes a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor connected to each bit line,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is set by the pull-up resistor or the pull-down resistor connected to each bit line. The image reading means includes an integrated circuit (IC) having a plurality of terminals,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a level switching unit that switches an output value of image data output at the time of reset according to the states of the plurality of terminals.   Whether the identification information is the same or not depends on whether the output value output from the image reading unit and input to the image processing unit is the same as the output value corresponding to the previously registered identification information. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination is performed.   The control means determines whether or not the output value input to the image processing means is the same as the output value corresponding to the pre-registered identification information, and according to the result of the determination a plurality of times. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a determination is made as to whether a signal for canceling the reset is transmitted or an error is notified.   The image according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control unit performs a predetermined number of times of determination, and determines that a power supply error has occurred when 0 is acquired as the output value for all the number of times. Reader.   The control means performs the number of times specified in advance and obtains the same output value continuously as a result of the number of times determination, but is different from the output value corresponding to the pre-registered identification information The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reading apparatus determines an ID error. The control means performs a predetermined number of times determination, and as a result of the number of times determination, continuously obtaining the same output value, and when the output value is the same as the output value corresponding to the pre-registered identification information The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a signal for canceling the reset is transmitted.   An image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus according to claim 1. An image reading unit that reads a document and outputs it as image data, an image processing unit that performs image processing on the image data output from the image reading unit, and communicates with the image reading unit and the image processing unit, An image processing method including identification processing of the image reading unit executed by an image reading apparatus including the image reading unit and a control unit that controls processing performed by the image processing unit,
In response to the start of power supply to the image reading apparatus, the control means inputs identification information for identifying the image reading means that is input to the image processing means to the image processing means. Requesting acquisition;
In response to the start of power supply to the image reading device, the information input means provided in the image reading means inputs the identification information to the image processing means;
The control means acquires the identification information from the image processing means, and determines whether or not the acquired identification information and the previously registered identification information are the same;
And a step of transmitting the signal for releasing the reset to the image reading unit in a reset state when the control unit is activated with the power supply when it is determined that they are the same. The image reading unit includes an output unit for outputting the image data to the image processing unit, and the output unit includes a plurality of bit lines,
The information input means includes a pull-up resistor or a pull-down resistor connected to each bit line,
11. The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein the identification information is set by the pull-up resistor or pull-down resistor connected to each bit line. The image reading means includes an integrated circuit (IC) having a plurality of terminals,
The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein the image processing method further includes a step of switching an output value of image data output at the time of reset according to a state of the plurality of terminals.   In the step of determining whether or not the identification information is the same, an output value output from the image reading unit and input to the image processing unit is the same as an output value corresponding to the previously registered identification information The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein the determination is based on whether or not.   A step of determining whether or not the identification information is the same is executed a plurality of times, and a determination is made as to whether a signal for canceling the reset is transmitted or an error is notified according to the determination result of the plurality of times The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein the image processing is performed.   The step of determining whether or not the identification information is the same is performed a predetermined number of times, and when 0 is acquired as the output value in all the times, it is determined that a power supply error has occurred. The image processing method according to claim 1.   The step of determining whether or not the identification information is the same is performed a predetermined number of times, and as a result of the determination of the number of times, the same output value is continuously acquired, but corresponds to the identification information registered in advance. The image processing method according to claim 10, wherein an ID error is determined when the output value is different from the output value.   The step of determining whether or not the identification information is the same is performed a predetermined number of times, and as a result of the determination of the number of times, the same output value is continuously obtained, and the output corresponding to the identification information registered in advance The image processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein when the value is the same as the value, a signal for canceling the reset is transmitted.   A computer-readable program for executing the image processing method according to claim 10.   A recording medium on which the program according to claim 18 is recorded.