JP2012049971A - Image processor, image processing system, image processing method and image processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress occurrence of a memory full state in an image processor as a master unit when a plurality of image processors cooperatively perform a processing.SOLUTION: The image processor includes: image input means inputting image data; job control means controlling a processing from an input to output of the image data as one job; dispersed input cooperation means having the image processor as a slave unit cooperate and input the image data; memory capacity calculating means calculating memory capacity required for storing the image data inputted to the image processor as the slave unit during execution of one job; memory managing means securing a memory region for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculating means; image acquiring means acquiring the image data inputted to the image processor as the slave unit during the execution of the one job; and image output means outputting the image data acquired by the image acquiring means in accordance with an output condition which is previously set.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing method, and an image processing program having a cooperation function for executing one function in cooperation with an image processing apparatus serving as a slave unit.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known an image processing system having a linkage function in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses are connected so as to be able to communicate with each other and the plurality of image processing apparatuses are linked to execute one function. As one of functions executed in cooperation with a plurality of image processing apparatuses, for example, there is a distributed reading function that reads a large amount of documents in a distributed manner.

  When the distributed reading function is executed, reading setting information is sent from the image processing apparatus serving as the master unit to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit, and the original is distributed and read between the master unit and the slave unit. Then, the read image data is collected in the master unit, and the master unit outputs the image data as one document.

  In addition, as a function that a plurality of image processing apparatuses execute in cooperation with each other, image data accumulated on the slave unit side is sent to the master unit, image data read by the master unit, and image data transmitted from the slave unit side There is also a function of combining and outputting. For example, in Patent Document 1, an original image is read by each of the parent device and the child device to create an image file, the parent device requests the child device to send the read image file, and the child device sends all image files to the parent device. It is described that the master unit combines two image files and creates a combined file.

  However, in the above conventional technique, when the read image data is output, the image data read by the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit or the image data stored in the slave unit is collected at once in the master unit. For this reason, there is a problem in that the amount of memory used by the image processing apparatus serving as the master unit increases, and the master unit causes memory full and the output is not completed normally. Furthermore, there is a problem that a new job cannot be input to the parent machine until the output of the image data is completed.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve this problem in view of the above circumstances, and when a plurality of image processing apparatuses are linked to execute processing, occurrence of memory full in the image processing apparatus serving as a master unit An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing system, an image processing method, and an image processing program capable of suppressing the above.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to achieve the above object.

  The present invention is an image processing apparatus which is connected to an image processing apparatus serving as a slave unit and serves as a master unit, and includes image input means for inputting image data, and processing from input to output of the image data for one job. A job control unit that controls the image processing apparatus as a slave unit, a distributed input linkage unit that causes the image processing apparatus as a slave unit to execute the input of the image data, and during execution of the one job Memory capacity calculation means for calculating a memory capacity necessary for storing the image data input to the image processing apparatus as the slave unit, and a memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation means A memory management unit that secures image data, an image acquisition unit that acquires the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job, and an image acquisition unit Ri having an image output means for outputting in accordance with the acquired image data preset output conditions.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention further includes input image information management means for managing input image information related to the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit, and the memory capacity calculation means includes the input image information The memory capacity is calculated based on the information.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the input image information includes an identifier for identifying the image data, information on an order in which the image data is input through one job, information on the size of the image data, and the image. It includes information on the size of the original document that is the source of data, and information on the image processing apparatus in which the image data is stored.

  The image processing apparatus of the present invention further includes an acquired image amount determining unit that determines the size of the image data acquired by the image acquiring unit.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the memory management unit cannot secure a memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculating unit, and the output condition is set to reduce the image data. If included, the job control unit requests the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit to perform a reduction process on the image data for which the reduction setting has been performed, and the image acquisition unit includes the image processing unit serving as the slave unit. Acquire reduced image data from the apparatus.

  The image processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes an approximate value calculation unit that calculates an approximate value of the size of the image data after the reduction process is performed, and the job control unit includes the approximate value by the memory management unit. When the above memory area can be secured, a reduction process is requested to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, when the memory management unit cannot secure a memory area corresponding to the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculating unit, the image input unit inputs the job other than the job being executed. An image saving unit for saving the image data thus saved to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit;

  The image processing apparatus according to the present invention further includes image display means for displaying a preview of thumbnail image data of the image data saved by the image saving means.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, when the memory management unit cannot secure a memory area corresponding to the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculating unit, the job control unit is configured as the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit. In addition, an output request for the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit is made.

  The present invention is an image processing system configured by connecting an image processing device as a slave unit and an image processing device as a master unit, and the image processing device as the master unit inputs image data. An image input means, a job control means for controlling the processing from input to output of the image data as one job, and an image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit are linked to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit. Distributed input cooperation means for executing the input of memory, and memory capacity calculation means for calculating the memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus as the slave during execution of the one job And a memory management unit that secures a memory area corresponding to the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation unit, and an image processing apparatus that is the slave unit during execution of the one job. The includes an image acquisition means for acquiring image data, and an image output means for outputting according to a preset output condition acquiring said image data by said image acquiring means.

  The present invention relates to an image processing method by an image processing apparatus serving as a master unit connected to an image processing apparatus serving as a slave unit, an image input procedure for inputting image data, and processing from input to output of the image data A job control procedure for controlling the image processing apparatus as a single job, a distributed input cooperation procedure for causing the image processing apparatus as the slave unit to execute input of the image data, and a job input procedure of the one job A memory capacity calculation procedure for calculating a memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution; and a memory capacity calculation step calculated in the memory capacity calculation procedure A memory management procedure for securing the memory area, and an image acquisition procedure for acquiring the image data input to the image processing apparatus as the slave unit during execution of the one job, Having an image output procedure for output according to a preset output conditions of the image data obtained in the serial image acquisition procedure.

  The present invention relates to an image processing program by an image processing apparatus serving as a master unit connected to an image processing apparatus serving as a slave unit, and an image input step for inputting image data to the image processing apparatus serving as the master unit; The job control step for controlling the processing from the input to the output of the image data as one job and the image processing device as the slave unit are linked to execute the input of the image data to the image processing device as the slave unit A distributed input cooperation step, a memory capacity calculation step for calculating a memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the child device during execution of the one job, and the memory A memory management step for securing a memory area corresponding to the memory capacity calculated in the capacity calculation step; and an image that becomes the slave unit during execution of the one job. An image acquisition step of acquiring the image data input to the processing device, an image output step of outputting according to a preset output condition acquired the image data in the image acquisition step, it is executed.

  According to the present invention, when a distributed reading function or the like by a plurality of image processing apparatuses is executed, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of memory full in the image processing apparatus serving as a master unit.

It is a figure which shows the example of the system block diagram of the image processing system of 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of an image processing apparatus. It is a figure explaining the functional structure of the image processing apparatus used as the main | base station in 1st embodiment. It is a figure explaining the functional structure of the image processing apparatus used as a subunit | mobile_unit in 1st embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of input image information. It is a figure explaining calculation of the memory capacity by the memory capacity calculation part of 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 3rd embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the reduction process by the image output part of the image processing apparatus used as a subunit | mobile_unit. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 4th embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of an area table. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 5th embodiment. It is a figure explaining saving of image data by an image saving part of a fifth embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 6th embodiment. 20 is a flowchart illustrating an operation when a print request for a document including saved image data is received in the image processing system according to the sixth embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 7th Embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating display of a preview screen in the image processing apparatus serving as a master unit. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the image processing system of 8th embodiment.

  In the present invention, in the image processing apparatus serving as the master unit, the number of images to be output and a memory area necessary for storing the same are calculated, and the above memory areas other than the image storage area for storing the images input to the master unit Secure. An image is acquired from the image processing apparatus serving as a slave device every time the memory area is empty.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration diagram of the image processing system according to the first embodiment.

  The image processing system 100 of the present embodiment is configured by connecting image processing apparatuses 200, 300, and 400 via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network). In the present embodiment, the image processing apparatuses 200, 300, and 400 cooperate to realize a distributed reading function and the like.

  The distributed reading function of the present embodiment is a function in which a plurality of image processing apparatuses respectively read a document to form image data, and transmit the image data to a parent / child image processing apparatus for output. Examples of output forms include print output and FAX transmission. In the following description of the present embodiment, the image processing device 200 will be described as a parent device and the image processing devices 200 and 300 will be described as a child device in cooperation with the image processing devices 200, 300, and 400.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus. In FIG. 2, the hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus 200 is shown. However, the hardware configuration of the image processing apparatuses 300 and 400 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the image processing apparatus 200, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  The image processing apparatus 200 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 21, a random access memory (RAM) 22, a read only memory (ROM) 23, a hard disk drive (HDD) 24, a scanner 25, a plotter 26, a network communication control unit 27, An operation unit 28 is provided and connected via the data bus B.

  The CPU 21 performs control calculations for the entire image processing apparatus 200. The RAM 22 is used as a temporary storage location. The ROM 23 stores programs, fonts, and other static data. The HDD 24 stores nonvolatile data. The scanner 25 reads a document. The plotter 26 prints the image read by the scanner 25 on a transfer sheet. The network communication control unit 27 is connected to a network such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or a wireless LAN, and enables communication with an external device or server. The operation unit 28 provides a user interface for the user to operate the image processing apparatus 200 such as a button or text input.

  The image processing program of the present invention is a part of a program for operating the image processing apparatus 200. The image processing program of the present invention is stored in, for example, the ROM 23, and the CPU 21 reads out the image processing program, develops it in the RAM 22, and executes it to operate the image processing apparatus 200. The image processing program may be downloaded via the network by the network communication control unit 27. The image processing program may be recorded on a recording medium that can be read by the image processing apparatus 200 such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or an optical disk, and may be read from the recording medium and stored in the ROM 23.

  Hereinafter, functions of the image processing apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the image processing apparatus serving as a master unit in the first embodiment.

  The image processing apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment includes a job control unit 210, a distributed input cooperation unit 211, an image display unit 212, an image input unit 213, an image output unit 214, an image acquisition unit 215, an acquired image amount determination unit 216, and a communication unit. 217, a memory management unit 218, a memory capacity calculation unit 219, an approximate value calculation unit 220, an image save unit 221, and an input image information management unit 222.

  In response to an instruction from the user, the job control unit 210 controls a series of processing flow from input to output of image data as one job. The series of processing includes, for example, image reading, memory area reservation, image acquisition, image output, and the like. The memory area secured here may be provided in the RAM 22 or the HDD 23, for example.

  The distributed input cooperation unit 211 makes a read instruction request to the image processing apparatuses 300 and 400 serving as cooperation destinations (child devices) when executing the distributed reading function. The distributed input cooperation unit 211 executes the distributed storage combination function for combining the image read by the image processing apparatus 200 and the stored documents stored in the image processing apparatuses 300 and 400 serving as the slave units. The stored document read instruction request is made to the image processing apparatuses 300 and 400.

  The image display unit 212 displays a preview of the image to the user. When executing the distributed reading function, the image input unit 213 reads a document and generates image data from the read information. The image input unit 213 reads the image data stored in the slave unit when executing the distributed image storage function.

  The image output unit 214 edits the image data according to the set output condition, and outputs the image data. Examples of the output format of the image data include printing on transfer paper and FAX transmission to a destination. Note that the editing is, for example, scaling or aggregation of image data.

  The image acquisition unit 215 acquires image data stored in the slave unit using the communication unit 217.

  The acquired image amount determination unit 216 determines a method for determining the capacity of image data acquired from the slave unit and the capacity to be acquired in order to execute output.

  The communication unit 217 transmits and receives information to and from the child device via the network. The memory management unit 218 secures a memory area corresponding to the capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation unit 219.

  The memory capacity calculation unit 219 calculates a memory capacity necessary for storing the image data acquired from the slave unit in the memory area. The approximate value calculation unit 220 calculates an approximate value of the image capacity size after reducing the image data. The image saving unit 221 temporarily stores the image data stored in the memory area of the parent device in the memory area of the child device. The input image information management unit 222 manages input image information accompanying the input image data and provides the information. The input image information is information indicating image data capacity, document size, input order, and the like. Details of the input image information will be described later.

  Next, a functional configuration of the image processing apparatus 300 serving as a slave unit will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the image processing apparatus that is a slave in the first embodiment. Since the functional configurations of the image processing apparatus 300 and the image processing apparatus 400 of the present embodiment are the same, the image processing apparatus 300 will be described.

  The image processing apparatus 300 as a slave unit cooperates with the image processing apparatus 200 as a master unit to execute a distributed input function or a distributed accumulation combination function, and a distributed input cooperation unit 311, an image input unit 313, an image output It is only necessary to include the unit 314, the communication unit 317, and the input image information management unit 322. If the image processing apparatus 300 that has been operating as a slave unit operates as a master unit, the functional configuration shown in FIG. 3 is required.

  Here, the input image information will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the input image information.

  The input image information 50 shown in FIG. 5 is information included for each read image data. The input image information 50 according to the present embodiment includes an image identifier 51, input order information 52, capacity size information 53, document size information 54, and storage device information 55.

  The image identifier 51 is information (for example, fileName01) for identifying image data. The input image information management units 222 and 322 are used for identifying information.

  The input order information 52 is information (for example, the third sheet) indicating the input order. The input order indicates the order input through one job and includes the order of image data input in the image processing apparatus 200. For example, when five originals are read in one job, the first to third originals are read by the image processing apparatus 200, and the fourth and fifth originals are read by the image processing apparatus 300. The order in which image data created from the original is input is the fourth.

  The input order information 52 is used by the memory capacity calculation unit 219 to calculate the image data capacity. For example, in the case of aggregate printing of image data and double-sided printing, since image data of a plurality of pages of originals is required for printing one sheet, the order in which the image data is input is necessary.

  The capacity size information 53 is information (for example, 10 kilobytes) indicating the capacity size of the image data. The capacity size information 53 is used by the memory capacity calculation unit 219 to calculate the image capacity. The capacity size information 53 of this embodiment is the maximum value of the data capacity that can be read from, for example, one original. For example, when the document size indicated in the document size information 54 is A4 size, the capacity size information 53 is the maximum data capacity that can be read from an A4 size document, that is, the maximum data capacity that can be placed on an A4 size document. Value.

  The document size information 54 is information (for example, A4 size) indicating the document size of the image data. The document size information 54 is used by the memory capacity calculation unit 219 for calculating the image data capacity. For example, in the case of collective printing of image data, the image data is reduced according to the document size, so it is necessary to calculate the print size.

  The storage device information 55 is information (for example, A000) indicating a device in which image data is stored. The storage device information 55 is used when the image acquisition unit 215 acquires image data based on information from the input image information management unit 222.

  Next, the calculation of the memory capacity by the memory capacity calculator 219 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining calculation of the memory capacity by the memory capacity calculation unit of the first embodiment.

  The memory capacity calculation unit 219 according to the present embodiment calculates the number of documents necessary for outputting image data in accordance with the set output conditions, and calculates the memory capacity for the number of documents.

The memory capacity calculation unit 219 according to the present embodiment calculates the memory capacity by multiplying the capacity size information 53 of the input image information sent from the slave unit, the duplex coefficient, and the aggregation coefficient. In other words, the memory capacity of the present embodiment is such that the double-sided coefficient is a and the aggregation coefficient is b.
Memory capacity = capacity size of image data indicated by capacity size information 53 × a × b (Expression 1)
It is calculated by.

  In the present embodiment, the double-sided coefficient a is set to, for example, double-sided coefficient a = 1 when single-sided output is set in the output condition, and double-sided coefficient a = 2 when double-sided output is set. The aggregation coefficient b is, for example, the value of the aggregate number when aggregation is set in the output condition. For example, when four sheets of documents are collectively printed, the aggregation coefficient b = 4.

  A specific example shown in FIG. 6 will be described below. The specific example shown in FIG. 6 shows a case of an output condition in which two originals are combined into one sheet and duplex printing is performed. In this case, as the image data necessary for printing on one sheet of printing paper, image data for a total of four documents for two documents on the front and two documents on the back is acquired from the slave unit.

  Therefore, the memory capacity calculation unit 219 calculates a value obtained by multiplying the capacity size information 53 by the double-sided coefficient a = 2 and the aggregation coefficient b = 2 as the memory capacity.

  In the present embodiment, it is preferable that the number of documents necessary for output is not the minimum number of documents necessary for output, but the number of documents as small as possible in consideration of speed performance and memory usage. For this reason, in the present embodiment, in the case of duplex setting, a document including the back side is acquired from the slave unit.

  In the image processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, the image data of the document for the front side may be acquired and output, and then the image data of the document for the back side may be acquired and output. In this case, the duplex coefficient is always 1 regardless of whether duplex printing is set. In this case, the image data for the front side may be acquired from the slave unit, and the image data for the back side may be image data input to the master unit.

  Next, the operation of the image processing system 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 7, the output form is print output.

  When the image processing apparatus 200 is instructed to execute the distributed reading function, the job control unit 210 of the image processing apparatus 200 starts copying using the distributed reading function (step S701). At this time, an output condition is set in the image processing apparatus 200.

  Subsequently, the distributed input cooperation unit 211 starts distributed reading (step S702). When distributed reading is started by the distributed input cooperation unit 211, the image input unit 213 of the master image processing apparatus 200 reads a document (step S703) and creates image data (step S704). Similarly, in the image processing apparatus 300 as a slave unit, the image input unit 313 starts reading a document (step S705) and creates image data (step S706).

  In the image processing apparatus 300, when there is no document to be read, the input image information management unit 322 transmits the input image information 50 to the image processing apparatus 200 (step S707). The input image information 50 is generated when a document is read into image data by the image processing apparatus 300. The image processing apparatus 200 stores the input image information 50 (step S708).

  In the image processing apparatus 200, the memory capacity calculation unit 219 calculates the memory capacity for storing the image data acquired from the image processing apparatus 300 (step S709). The processing of the memory capacity calculation unit 219 is as described above.

  Subsequently, the memory management unit 218 secures a memory area corresponding to the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation unit 219 in the image processing apparatus 200 (step S710). Here, the memory area secured by the memory management unit 218 is an area secured separately from the area set in advance for storing the read image data in the image processing apparatus 200.

  If the memory capacity is successfully secured in step S710, the image processing apparatus 200 performs two processes in parallel. One process is an image data acquisition process from the image processing apparatus 300 by the image acquisition unit 215. Another process is an image data output process by the image output unit 214. If the memory area cannot be secured in step S710, the image processing apparatus 200 interrupts the process. The case where the securing of the memory area fails is a case where the free area of the image forming apparatus 200 is less than the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculating unit 219.

  First, processing by the image acquisition unit 215 will be described.

  In the image processing apparatus 200, the image acquisition unit 215 requests the image processing apparatus 300 to acquire image data necessary for printing one print sheet according to the output condition (step S711). Upon receiving this request, the image processing apparatus 300 sends the image data read by the input image information management unit 322 to the image processing apparatus 200 (step S712). The image acquisition unit 215 acquires the image data sent from the image processing apparatus 300 when the memory area secured by the memory management unit 218 in step S710 is empty (step S713). If there is no space in the memory area secured by the memory management unit 218 in step S713, the image acquisition unit 215 does not acquire image data. The image acquisition unit 215 repeats the processes in steps S711 to S713 until there is no image data to be acquired from the image processing apparatus 300.

  Next, processing of the image output unit 214 will be described.

  The image output unit 214 reads out the image data to be printed (step S714). When necessary image data is stored in the image processing apparatus 200 (step S715), the image output unit 214 edits the image data according to the output condition and prints it (step S716).

  The image data editing includes, for example, image data aggregation and scaling. For example, when it is set as an output condition that the images of four originals are aggregated on one print sheet, the image output unit 214 performs editing for reading and collecting the image data of the four originals. For example, when the output condition is set to reduce the image of one original to 75%, the image output unit 214 reads and reduces the image data of one original.

  When the printing of the image data is completed, the image output unit 214 deletes the unnecessary image data and the input image information 50 corresponding to this image data (step S717).

  Here, the image processing apparatus 200 ends the parallel processing of the image acquisition unit 215 and the image output unit 214.

  Subsequently, the image processing apparatus 200 notifies the image processing apparatus 300 that is a slave device that the printing is completed by the distributed input cooperation unit 211 (step S718). Subsequently, the distributed input cooperation unit 211 ends the cooperation for executing the distributed input function (step S719). Also in the image processing apparatus 300, the distributed input cooperation unit 311 ends the cooperation for executing the distributed input function (step S720).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the memory capacity for storing the image data for the number of documents necessary for output is calculated based on the set output condition. The master unit secures a memory area for storing the image data acquired from the slave unit separately from the storage area for the image data input to the master unit, and each time the reserved memory area becomes free, Acquire image data from the machine.

  Therefore, according to the present embodiment, when the distributed reading function or the like is executed, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of memory full in the image processing apparatus 200 serving as the master unit. Further, according to the present embodiment, the problem that a new job cannot be input to the parent device in the image processing apparatus 200 serving as the parent device can be solved.

(Second embodiment)
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The second embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment only in that processing by the acquired image amount determination unit 216 is added. Therefore, in the following description of the second embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment are given to those having the same functional configuration as the first embodiment, Description is omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the second embodiment.

  The processing from step S801 to step S808 in FIG. 8 is the same as the processing from step S701 to step S708 in FIG.

  When the input image information 50 is stored in the image processing apparatus 200 in step S808, the acquired image amount determination unit 216 determines the volume of image data acquired from the image processing apparatus 300 (step S809). Note that the volume of image data determined by the acquired image determination unit 216 of the present embodiment indicates the number of pages.

  The acquired image amount determination unit 216 of this embodiment may determine the capacity of image data acquired from the image processing apparatus 300 based on the capacity of a memory mounted on the image processing apparatus 200, for example. Note that the image data capacity determined here is preferably the maximum image data capacity that the image acquisition unit 215 can acquire from the image processing apparatus 300 at a time.

  For example, when the image processing apparatus 200 is equipped with a large-capacity memory, the acquired image amount determination unit 216 of the present embodiment may determine the amount of image data acquired from the slave unit to be relatively large. The acquired image amount determination unit 216 may determine the amount of image data acquired from the slave unit to be relatively small, for example, when the capacity of the memory mounted on the image processing apparatus 200 is small.

  Further, the acquired image amount determination unit 216 of the present embodiment may be able to change the volume of image data to be acquired. For example, the acquired image amount determination unit 216 may determine the amount of image data to be acquired according to the capacity of the memory installed in the parent device. Further, the acquired image amount determination unit 216 of the present embodiment may determine the capacity of image data for acquiring image data for only the number of pages set by the user in the initial setting.

  When the capacity of the image data acquired in step S809 is determined, the memory capacity calculation unit 219 then calculates the memory capacity for storing the image data acquired from the image processing apparatus 300 based on the output condition (step S810).

  At this time, the memory capacity calculation unit 219 of the present embodiment calculates the memory capacity by lacking the number of pages determined by the acquired image amount determination unit 216 in the equation (1) described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, when the number of pages determined by the acquired image amount determination unit 216 is an image amount count c, the memory capacity is calculated by the following equation (2).

Memory capacity = capacity size of image data indicated by capacity size information 53 × a × b × c
Formula (2)
The processing from step S811 to step S821 is the same as the processing from step S710 to step S720 in FIG.

(Third embodiment)
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The third embodiment of the present invention differs from the first embodiment only in the processing when the memory management unit 218 fails to secure a memory area. Therefore, in the following description of the third embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment are given to those having the same functional configuration as that of the first embodiment. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the third embodiment.

  The processing from step S901 to step S910 in FIG. 9 is the same as the processing from step S701 to step S710 in FIG.

  If the memory management unit 218 fails to secure a memory area in step S910, the job control unit 210 checks whether there is a reduction setting in the output condition (step S911). If there is no reduction setting in step S911, the job control unit 210 terminates the execution of the distributed reading function.

  If there is a reduction setting in step S911, the job control unit 210 requests reduction processing of the image processing apparatus 300 (step S912). Upon receiving this request, the image processing apparatus 300 performs image data reduction processing (step S913). Details of the reduction processing by the image output unit 314 will be described later. Subsequently, the input image information management unit 322 sends the input image information 50 of the reduced image data to the image processing apparatus 200 (step S914).

  In the image processing apparatus 200, the memory management unit 218 secures a memory area necessary for storing image data reduced based on the input image information 50 (step S915). If the allocation of the memory area fails in step S915, the job control unit 210 terminates the execution of the distributed reading function.

  If the memory area is successfully secured in step S915, the process proceeds to step S916. The processing from step S916 to step S925 is the same as the processing from step S711 to step S720 in FIG.

  The reduction process by the image output unit 314 of the image processing apparatus 300 will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a reduction process performed by the image output unit of the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit.

  The example of FIG. 10 represents a case where two pieces of image data with the image data size of 100 KB and the document size of A4 are reduced and output as one piece of A4 size data. In the present embodiment, the image output unit 316 reduces the image data. However, the reduction preferably includes reduction by scaling and reduction by aggregation.

In the example of FIG. 10, the approximate value of the image data size after reduction (after aggregation) is
1 × 100 KB (input image A) +100 KB (input image B) / 2) = 100 KB
It becomes. Here, 1 = area ratio of the input image A and the input image B, and 2 = the number of aggregation. Thus, by reducing the image data input from the image input unit 213, the size of the output image data can be reduced.

(Fourth embodiment)
Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The fourth embodiment of the present invention is different from the third embodiment in that the processing of the approximate value calculation unit 220 is added. Therefore, in the following description of the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the third embodiment are given to those having the same functional configuration as that of the third embodiment. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the fourth embodiment.

  The processing from step S1101 to step S1111 in FIG. 11 is the same as the processing from step S901 to step S911 in FIG.

  If there is no reduction setting in the output condition in step S1111, the image processing apparatus 200 calculates an approximate value of the size when the image data is reduced by the image output unit 314 of the image processing apparatus 300 by the approximate value calculation unit 220. (Step S1112). Details of calculation of the approximate value by the approximate value calculator 220 will be described later.

  Subsequently, the memory management unit 218 confirms whether it is possible to secure a memory area equal to or greater than the calculated approximate value (step S1113). If the memory area cannot be secured in step S1113, the job control unit 210 ends the distributed reading function.

  If the memory area can be secured in step S1113, the process proceeds to step S1114. The processing from step S1114 to step S1127 is the same as the processing from step S912 to step S925 in FIG.

  Hereinafter, calculation of the approximate value by the approximate value calculation unit 220 of the present embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, an approximate value of the size of the reduced image data is calculated by the following equation (3).

Approximate value of image data size after reduction = αX × N Formula (3)
Here, α is the ratio of the area of the input image to the area of the output image when the area of the input image is 1, and X is the size of image data for the number of documents required for output according to the output conditions. The sum, that is, the sum of the sizes of image data for which the image acquisition unit 215 makes an acquisition request to the image processing apparatus 300, and N is an aggregation rate.

  The area of the input image and the area of the output image are calculated based on the document size of the document that is the source of the image. The image processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment has an area table in which the width and height are determined for each document size, and the approximate value calculation unit 220 multiplies the width and height of the area table to multiply the input image and the output. Calculate the area of the image. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the area table. The area table 12 shown in FIG. 12 stores a width and a height corresponding to the size of the document (paper).

(Fifth embodiment)
The fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The fifth embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that the processing of the image saving unit 221 is added. Therefore, in the following description of the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment are assigned to those having the same functional configuration as that of the first embodiment. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the fifth embodiment. The processing from step S1301 to step S1310 in FIG. 13 is the same as the processing from step S701 to step S710 in FIG.

  If the memory management unit 218 fails to secure the memory area in step S1310, the image processing apparatus 200 uses the image saving unit 221 to create the image data created and stored in the image processing apparatus 200 as the transmission target image data. And saved from the image processing apparatus 200 (step S1311). The image data that is the transmission target image data by the image saving unit 221 according to the present embodiment is image data that has been read and stored by the image processing apparatus 200 that is the parent device in the job that is currently being executed, and is further output. Part or all of image data that is not immediately required for execution.

  In this embodiment, the image saving unit 221 may save the image data only when the memory management unit 218 cannot secure a memory area for storing image data for printing one sheet of printing paper.

  The image processing apparatus 300 stores the image data transmitted from the image processing apparatus 200 in step S1311 (step S1312). The processing from step S1313 to step S1322 is the same as the processing from step S711 to step S720 of FIG.

  Hereinafter, image data saving by the image saving unit 221 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating image data saving by the image saving unit according to the fifth embodiment.

  In state A in FIG. 14, image data 4 to 7 are stored in the image processing apparatus 200 that is the master unit, and image data 1 to 3 are stored in the image processing apparatus 300 that is the slave unit. The numbers assigned to the image data indicate the input order of the image data. The input order of the image data is included in the input image information 50.

  In order to output sequentially from image data 1 in this state in state A, it is necessary for the parent device to acquire image data 1 from the child device and store it in the memory, but there is not enough free space in the memory area of the parent device. Therefore, the image saving unit 221 saves image data that does not need to be output immediately from the parent device to the child device.

  The state B is a state in which the image data 7 having the latest input order is saved from the parent device. As described above, in the present embodiment, image data stored in the parent device may be saved to the child device in order from image data having a later input order. The image data 7 saved from the parent device is saved in the memory area of the child device.

  When there is a free space in the memory area of the parent device, the parent device acquires the image data 1 to be output immediately from the child device by the image acquisition unit 215 and stores it in the memory area. The state C is a state in which the image data 1 is stored in the memory area of the parent machine in which the image data 7 is saved.

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when there is no empty area in the memory area of the master unit, image data necessary for output can be acquired by saving image data in the slow input order to the slave unit. Therefore, in this embodiment, even when there is no free area for storing image data acquired from the slave unit in the memory area of the master unit, the output can be completed as usual.

(Sixth embodiment)
The sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The sixth embodiment of the present invention is different from the fifth embodiment in that image data to be transmitted is image data saved by a job other than the job being executed. Therefore, in the following description of the sixth embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the fifth embodiment are given to those having the same functional configuration as that of the fifth embodiment. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the sixth embodiment. The processing from step S1501 to step S1510 in FIG. 15 is the same as the processing from step S1301 to step S1310 in FIG.

  If the memory management unit 218 fails to secure a memory area in step S1510, the image processing apparatus 200 causes the image saving unit 221 to use a part of image data created by a job other than the job being executed as transmission target image data. Retreat to the image processing apparatus 300 (step S1511).

  The processing from step S1512 to step S1522 is the same as the processing from step S1312 to step S1322 of FIG.

  Next, processing when a print request for a document including image data saved from the parent device to the child device in the present embodiment is received will be described. FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining the operation when receiving a print request for a document including saved image data in the image processing system of the sixth embodiment.

  When the image processing apparatus 200 makes a print request for a document including image data stored in the image processing apparatus 300 as a slave unit, the job control unit 210 starts printing the stored document (step S1601). Subsequently, the image acquisition unit 215 sends an acquisition request for the corresponding image data from the image processing apparatus 300 to the image processing apparatus 300 (step S1602).

  Upon receiving this request, the image processing apparatus 300 transmits the read image data to the image processing apparatus 200 by the input image information management unit 322 (step S1603). The image processing apparatus 200 receives this image data and prepares for output by the image output unit 214 (step S1604).

  The image output unit 214 edits and prints the image data in accordance with the set output conditions (step S1605). Subsequently, the image output unit 214 deletes the image data that is no longer necessary for printing and the input image information 50 (step S1606).

  As described above, in this embodiment, when there is no space for storing the image data acquired from the child device in the memory area of the parent device, an image that is not the job stored in the parent device is stored. Send the part to the slave unit and save it on the slave unit side. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even when there is no empty area for storing image data acquired from the slave unit in the memory area of the master unit, the output can be completed as usual. Further, by saving the image data that is not the job being executed, the number of times image data is communicated between the parent device and the child device can be reduced.

(Seventh embodiment)
The seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The seventh embodiment of the present invention is different from the sixth embodiment in that transmission target image data is image data that is not thumbnail image data. Therefore, in the following description of the seventh embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the sixth embodiment are given to those having the same functional configuration as that of the sixth embodiment. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the seventh embodiment. The processing from step S1701 to step S1710 in FIG. 17 is the same as the processing from step S1501 to step S1510 in FIG.

  When the memory management unit 218 fails to secure the memory area in step S1710, the image processing apparatus 200 transmits the image data stored in the image processing apparatus 200 to the image processing apparatus 300 as transmission target image data by the image saving unit 221. Then, it is evacuated from the image processing apparatus 200 (step S1711). The image data that is the transmission target image data by the image saving unit 221 of the present embodiment is a part or all of the image data other than the thumbnail image data among the image data created by a job other than the job that is being executed. .

  The processing from step S1712 to step S1722 is the same as the processing from step S1512 to step S1522 in FIG.

  Note that when the transmission target image data is saved in the image processing apparatus 300 by the image saving unit 221 of the present embodiment, thumbnail image data of the transmission target image data is created and saved in the image processing apparatus 200. The image processing apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment displays the corresponding thumbnail image data on the image display unit 212 when a preview display request for the saved transmission target image data is made.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining display of a preview screen in the image processing apparatus serving as a master unit.

  When a request for preview display of transmission target image data is made in the image processing apparatus 200 of the present embodiment, the job control unit 210 reads the stored thumbnail image data and starts preview display (step S1801). Subsequently, the image display unit 212 displays a preview of the transmission target image data based on the read thumbnail image data (step S1802).

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when image data is saved from the parent device to the child device, thumbnail image data associated with the image data saved to the child device is saved on the parent device side. Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, even when there is a preview display request for saved image data, the request can be realized without re-acquiring image data from the slave unit.

(Eighth embodiment)
The eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The eighth embodiment of the present invention is different from the first embodiment in that image data is output on the slave unit side when image data acquired from the slave unit cannot be stored. Therefore, in the following description of the eighth embodiment of the present invention, the same reference numerals as those used in the description of the first embodiment are given to those having the same functional configuration as that of the first embodiment. Description is omitted.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the image processing system according to the eighth embodiment. The processing from step S1901 to step S1910 in FIG. 19 is the same as the processing from step S701 to step S710 in FIG.

  If the memory management unit 218 cannot secure a memory area corresponding to the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation unit 219 in step S1910, the job control unit 210 requests the image processing apparatus 300 to perform print processing (step S1911).

  When the image processing apparatus 300 receives a print request, the image output unit 314 prepares for printing (step S1912). The image output unit 314 performs printing when the image processing apparatus 300 holds image data necessary for printing (step S1913). Subsequently, the image output unit 314 deletes image data that is no longer necessary for printing (step S1914).

  When the printing is completed, the image processing apparatus 300 notifies the image processing apparatus 200 of the end of the printing process by the distributed input cooperation unit 311 (step S1915).

  The processing from step S1916 to step S1925 is the same as the processing from step S711 to step S720 of FIG.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the base unit cannot secure a memory area for storing image data acquired from the slave unit, printing is performed on the slave unit side. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent output failure due to memory shortage on the parent device side.

  In each of the embodiments described above, the slave unit has been described as the image processing apparatus 300. However, even if the image processing apparatus 400 is a slave unit, the same processing can be performed.

  As mentioned above, although this invention has been demonstrated based on each embodiment, this invention is not limited to the requirements shown in the said embodiment. With respect to these points, the gist of the present invention can be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image processing system 200, 300, 400 Image processing apparatus 210 Job control part 211, 311 Distributed input cooperation part 213, 313 Image input part 214, 314 Image output part 215 Image acquisition part 217, 317 Communication means 218 Memory management part 219 Memory Capacity calculation unit 220 Approximate value calculation unit 221 Image saving unit 222, 322 Input image information management unit

JP 2006-115443 A

Claims (12)

An image processing apparatus that is connected to an image processing apparatus that is a slave and serves as a master,
Image input means for inputting image data;
Job control means for controlling the processing from input to output of the image data as one job;
Distributed input cooperation means for causing the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit to execute the input of the image data in cooperation with the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit;
A memory capacity calculating means for calculating a memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
Memory management means for securing a memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation means;
Image acquisition means for acquiring the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
And an image output unit that outputs the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit in accordance with a preset output condition. Input image information management means for managing input image information related to the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory capacity calculation unit calculates the memory capacity based on the input image information. The input image information is
An identifier for identifying the image data; information about the order in which the image data is input through one job; information about the size of the image data; information about the size of the document that is the source of the image data; and the image data The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: information on an image processing apparatus in which is stored.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an acquired image amount determination unit that determines a size of image data acquired by the image acquisition unit. When the memory management unit cannot secure a memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation unit, and the output condition includes a reduction setting for the image data,
The job control means includes
Request the image processing apparatus as the slave unit to perform the reduction processing of the image data for which the reduction setting has been made,
The image acquisition means includes
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein reduced image data is acquired from the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit. An approximate value calculating means for calculating an approximate value of the size of the image data after being subjected to the reduction processing;
The job control means includes
6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein when the memory management unit can secure a memory area equal to or greater than the approximate value, the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit is requested to perform a reduction process. When the memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation means cannot be secured by the memory management means,
5. The image according to claim 1, further comprising an image saving unit that saves the image data input by the image input unit in a job other than the job being executed to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit. Processing equipment.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising an image display unit configured to display a preview of thumbnail image data of the image data saved by the image save unit. When the memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation means cannot be secured by the memory management means,
The job control means includes
5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit is requested to output the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit. 6. An image processing system configured to be connected to an image processing device serving as a slave unit and an image processing device serving as a master unit,
The image processing apparatus serving as the master unit is
Image input means for inputting image data;
Job control means for controlling the processing from input to output of the image data as one job;
Distributed input cooperation means for causing the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit to execute the input of the image data in cooperation with the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit;
A memory capacity calculating means for calculating a memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
Memory management means for securing a memory area for the memory capacity calculated by the memory capacity calculation means;
Image acquisition means for acquiring the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
And an image output unit that outputs the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit according to preset output conditions. An image processing method by an image processing apparatus that is connected to an image processing apparatus that is a slave unit and that is a master unit,
Image input procedure for inputting image data,
A job control procedure for controlling the processing from input to output of the image data as one job;
A distributed input cooperation procedure for causing the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit to execute the input of the image data in cooperation with the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit;
A memory capacity calculation procedure for calculating a memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
A memory management procedure for securing a memory area for the memory capacity calculated in the memory capacity calculation procedure;
An image acquisition procedure for acquiring the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
And an image output procedure for outputting the image data acquired in the image acquisition procedure in accordance with preset output conditions. An image processing program by an image processing apparatus that is connected to an image processing apparatus that is a slave unit and that is a master unit,
In the image processing apparatus serving as the master unit,
An image input step for inputting image data;
A job control step for controlling the processing from input to output of the image data as one job;
A distributed input cooperation step for causing the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit to cooperate with the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit to input the image data;
A memory capacity calculating step for calculating a memory capacity required to store the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
A memory management step of securing a memory area for the memory capacity calculated in the memory capacity calculation step;
An image acquisition step of acquiring the image data input to the image processing apparatus serving as the slave unit during execution of the one job;
An image output program for executing the image output step of outputting the image data acquired in the image acquisition step in accordance with a preset output condition.

Images