JP2012182614A - Image transmission device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image transmission device that transmits image files without causing troubles such as transmission errors, and has excellent usability for a user.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 104 includes: an image determination unit 120 that detects a break position (e.g., a position immediately before a caption) from an image file to be transmitted; an image processing unit 116 that divides the image file at the determined break position; and a mail creation unit 122 that transmits the divided image file.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for dividing and transmitting an image file to be transmitted.

  Conventionally, an image file obtained by reading a document with a scanner device or the like, or an image file received from an external device such as a PC (Personal Computer) is attached to an e-mail and transmitted to a desired destination via a network. Technology is known. At this time, the problem is the size of the image file. In a mail server, it is common to limit the size of an attached file. If an image file is unconditionally attached to an e-mail, the e-mail itself may not be delivered due to this limitation.

  For example, Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a communication device that, when an image file composed of a plurality of pages is attached to an e-mail and transmitted, divides the image file into pages and transmits it to the other party. Has been.

  In Patent Document 2 described later, when an image file is converted into an electronic mail format and transmitted, when the data amount of the image file exceeds the limit data amount set by the mail server, the image file is stored. An image communication apparatus is disclosed that divides the data so that the data amount is smaller than the limit data amount, converts the data amount into a mail format, and transmits the data.

  By dividing and transmitting the image file as described above, it is possible to avoid problems such as a transmission error caused by a limitation on the network system such as a mail server capacity limitation and network traffic congestion avoidance.

JP 2004-23501 A JP 2004-194080 A

  In the technologies disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since the image file is divided by the line for each page or the line immediately before exceeding the limit data amount, the image file is divided at the position where the content is divided. Not. As a result, for example, when the image file is document data, sentences included in the same chapter may be included in different image files. When confirming, there is a possibility that it is difficult to find a portion to be referred to. Further, there is a possibility that the user needs to redo and re-divide the image file on the PC, and there is a problem that it is not convenient for the user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission apparatus that can transmit an image file without causing problems such as a transmission error and is excellent in user convenience.

  An image communication apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes: a detection unit that detects a separation position from a transmission target image file; a division unit that divides the image file at the detected separation position; and transmits the divided image file Transmitting means. As described above, since the image file is divided and transmitted at the delimiter position, the image file can be transmitted without causing problems such as a transmission error. In addition, the user can easily confirm the contents of the image file. Furthermore, it is possible to save the user from having to re-divide and combine image files on the PC. Therefore, user convenience is improved.

  Preferably, the detecting unit includes a heading detecting unit that detects a position immediately before the heading as a break position. As a result, when the image file is document data, the image file is divided at the content-divided positions, so that the user can easily confirm the content of the image file. In addition, it is possible to save the user from having to re-divide and combine image files on the PC. Therefore, the user convenience is further improved.

  More preferably, the headline detection unit includes a unit that detects, as a headline, a character string composed of characters that have a font size larger than that of other characters and are bold. Thereby, the delimiter position can be detected more easily and accurately.

  More preferably, the headline detecting means includes means for detecting a character string having a numeral at the beginning of a line as a headline. Thereby, the delimiter position can be detected more easily and accurately.

  More preferably, the headline detecting means includes means for detecting a character string immediately before a portion where the linefeed width is larger than other linefeed widths as a headline. Thereby, the delimiter position can be detected more easily and accurately.

  More preferably, the detection unit includes a mark detection unit that detects a position of data based on a mark drawn by ink recognized as distinguished from other images as a separation position. Thus, the user can divide the image file at a desired separation position by handwriting a mark at a desired position on the original image with a pen or the like using dedicated ink. Therefore, the user convenience is further improved.

  More preferably, the image transmitting apparatus further includes an inserting unit that inserts a predetermined symbol at the detected delimiter position, and the dividing unit includes a unit that divides the image file based on the predetermined symbol. As a result, the image file can be divided more easily and accurately.

  More preferably, the dividing unit further includes a page dividing unit that divides an image file including a page in which a separation position is provided in the middle into a first image file and a second image file, and the page dividing unit includes: The image file is divided so that the page becomes the last page of the first image file and the page obtained by copying the page becomes the first page of the second image file. By dividing in this way, the last page of the first image file and the first page of the second image file include portions where the contents overlap. As a result, the user can easily grasp the context of the contents of the first image file and the second image file.

  More preferably, the page dividing means includes insertion means for inserting blank data in a portion after the break position on the last page and inserting blank data in a portion before the break position on the first page. By dividing in this way, the last page of the first image file and the first page of the second image file do not include overlapping portions. As a result, the user can more reliably save the trouble of deleting overlapping portions when organizing and storing image files.

  More preferably, the image transmission device further includes a determination unit that determines whether or not the divided image file exceeds a predetermined data amount, and the determination unit exceeds the predetermined data amount. Notification means for notifying the occurrence of an error when it is determined that there is an error. Thereby, the user can easily know that the divided image file does not satisfy the limit such as the capacity limit of the mail server. Therefore, problems such as transmission errors can be easily avoided.

  More preferably, the image transmission device further includes an image reading unit that reads an image of a document and converts the read image information into an image file, and a character recognition unit that performs optical character recognition on the converted image file. Including. This makes it possible to easily detect the break position even in an image file read by a scanner device or the like. Therefore, the user convenience is further improved.

  According to the present invention, since the image file is transmitted after being divided at the delimiter position, the image file can be transmitted without causing problems such as a transmission error. In addition, the user can easily confirm the contents of the image file. Furthermore, it is possible to save the user from having to re-divide and combine image files on the PC. Therefore, user convenience is improved.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the network system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure for demonstrating the division | segmentation method of an image file. It is a flowchart which shows the control structure of the computer program for implement | achieving a 1st image file division | segmentation process. It is a figure which shows an example of the transmission setting screen for performing various settings in an email transmission process. It is a figure which shows an example of an image file. It is a figure which shows an example of the divided | segmented image file. It is a flowchart which shows the control structure of the computer program for implement | achieving a 2nd image file division | segmentation process. It is a figure which shows an example of an image file. It is a figure which shows an example of the divided | segmented image file.

  In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals and names are assigned to the same components. Their functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

[First Embodiment]
Referring to FIG. 1, network system 1 according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes client PCs 101, 102, and 103, image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106, and a mail server 107. These devices are connected to each other via a network 108 formed of a LAN (Local Area Network) line or the like, and can transmit and receive various data to and from each other. The numbers of client PCs and image forming apparatuses are not limited to the three shown in FIG.

  The client PCs 101, 102, and 103 are terminal devices that are operated by general users to use the image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106 and the mail server 107. The client PCs 101, 102, and 103 are installed with application programs such as a graphic drawing tool and a word processor, and a printer driver for realizing a print job of image data. The client PCs 101, 102, and 103 create application data for outputting an image including characters, graphics, and the like according to an instruction from a user who uses the application program, and the created application data is generated by a printer driver using a PDL (Page It is converted to (Description Language) data and transmitted to the image forming apparatuses 104, 105 and 106 as an image file.

  Further, the client PCs 101, 102 and 103 confirm with the mail server 107 whether or not there is an e-mail addressed to itself, and if there is an e-mail addressed to itself, the client PC 101, 102 and 103 receives the e-mail addressed to the self from the mail server 107. be able to.

  The image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106 are MFPs (Multifunction Printers) having a scanner function, a copy function, a printer function, an e-mail transmission function, and the like. The detailed configuration of the image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106 will be described later.

  The mail server 107 is a server device for sending and receiving electronic mail within the network 108. The mail server 107 stores e-mails sent to the users of the client PCs 101, 102, and 103, and in response to a user's reception request, the stored e-mails are sent to the requesting client PCs 101, 102, or 103. Send to.

  In the present embodiment, mail server 107 limits the amount of e-mail data to a predetermined capacity (hereinafter referred to as “first limited capacity”). In other words, the mail server 107 does not receive an e-mail when the amount of e-mail data exceeds the first limit capacity.

  In the network system 1, the client PC 101, 102, or 103 sends an image request to the image forming apparatus 104, 105, or 106 (hereinafter referred to as “e-mail transmission instruction”) and a transmission target. When the image file is transmitted, the image forming apparatus 104, 105 or 106 converts the received image file into an e-mail format, attaches it to the e-mail, and sends it to the mail server 107 with the client PC 101, 102 or 103 as the destination. Send to. The mail server 107 stores the received electronic mail for each of the client PCs 101, 102, and 103. The client PC 101, 102, or 103 confirms with the mail server 107 whether or not there is an e-mail addressed to itself, and if there is an e-mail addressed to itself, receives the e-mail addressed to the self from the mail server 107.

[Image forming apparatuses 104, 105 and 106]
The image forming apparatuses 104, 105, and 106 have the same configuration. Hereinafter, as a representative example, the configuration and operation of the image forming apparatus 104 will be described.

<Hardware configuration>
2, the image forming apparatus 104 includes a control unit 110, an operation panel 112, an image reading unit 114, an image processing unit 116, an image forming unit 118, an image determination unit 120, a mail generation unit 122, and a communication unit. 124.

  The control unit 110 is substantially a computer, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 130, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 132, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 134, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 136, and a flash memory 138. Including. A bus line 139 is connected to the CPU 130, and a ROM 132, a RAM 134, an HDD 136, and a flash memory 138 are electrically connected to the bus line 139. The CPU 130 executes various computer programs in response to instructions from an external device such as the client PCs 101, 102, and 103, or the operation panel 112, thereby performing operations of each unit of the image forming apparatus 104 and communication with the external device. Perform the desired process. The various computer programs are stored in advance in the ROM 132 or the HDD 136, and are read from the ROM 132 or the HDD 136 and transferred to the RAM 134 when desired processing is executed. The CPU 130 reads and interprets a program instruction from an address in the RAM 134 specified by a value stored in a register called a program counter (not shown) in the CPU 130. CPU 130 also reads data necessary for the operation from the address specified by the read instruction, and executes an operation corresponding to the instruction on the data. The execution result is also stored at an address specified by the instruction, such as a register in the RAM 134, HDD 136, and CPU 130.

  The HDD 136 and the flash memory 138 store various data such as image data. The HDD 136 stores a computer program for realizing a general operation of the image forming apparatus 104 and a computer program for realizing a first image file dividing process described later.

  Further, an operation panel 112, an image reading unit 114, an image processing unit 116, an image forming unit 118, an image determination unit 120, a mail generation unit 122, and a communication unit 124 are electrically connected to the bus line 139.

  The operation panel 112 includes a display unit 140 formed of a liquid crystal display and an operation unit 142 formed of various hardware keys and a touch panel. The operation panel 112 provides an interactive operation interface to the user, which is configured by overlapping a liquid crystal display and a touch panel. The interactive operation interface receives a user instruction from the touch panel, displays the contents of the instruction on the liquid crystal display, and sends a control signal corresponding to the instruction to the MPU (Micro Processing) of the control unit 110 or the image processing unit 116. (Unit). The operation unit 142 includes, as various hardware keys, a power button for inputting a power-on instruction and a power-off instruction, and a start key for starting various processes such as a printing process and an e-mail transmission process.

  In the present embodiment, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 104 can perform various settings in the e-mail transmission process by an input operation on the operation panel 112. For example, the administrator can set the data amount of the e-mail to be transmitted to be limited to a predetermined capacity (hereinafter referred to as “second limited capacity”). The administrator can further set the image file dividing method to one of a first dividing method and a second dividing method to be described later. Further, the administrator can set the transmission error notification method to one of a method for displaying an error message and a method for notifying an error message by electronic mail.

  The image reading unit 114 is a scanner device including a document scanning unit including a light source, a reflection mirror, an optical lens, and a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) line sensor (none of which is shown). The document scanning unit irradiates light from a light source onto an image surface of a document placed on a document placement table (not shown) manually by a user or by an automatic document feeder (not shown). Thus, a reflected light image is obtained. The reflection mirror and the optical lens form the resulting reflected light image on the CCD line sensor. The CCD line sensor sequentially photoelectrically converts the formed reflected light image and outputs it to the image processing unit 116 as an image file.

  The image processing unit 116 includes an MPU (not shown). The image processing unit 116 performs predetermined image processing such as rasterization processing on the image file received from the image reading unit 114 to generate print data of a predetermined gradation, and the image forming unit 118 Output.

  The image processing unit 116 further divides the image file received from the client PC 101, 102, or 103 at a predetermined separation position in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 110. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image processing unit 116 divides an image file by one of the first division method and the second division method described below.

  Referring to FIG. 3, for example, an image file 150 including a page where a chapter heading “2.1 setting” is provided in the middle of the page (hereinafter referred to as “division target page”) is divided into positions immediately before the chapter heading. And divided into a first image file and a second image file.

  In the first division method, the image file 150 is divided so that the page to be divided becomes the last page 152 of the first image file, and the page to which the page to be divided is copied becomes the first page 154 of the second image file. Is done. When the image file is divided by the first division method, the pages 152 and 154 include portions where the contents overlap. As a result, the user can easily grasp the context of the contents of the first image file and the second image file.

  In the second division method, first, the image file 150 is set such that the page to be divided becomes the last page 156 of the first image file, and the page obtained by copying the page to be divided becomes the first page 158 of the second image file. Is divided. Further, on page 156, the portion after the break position (ie, immediately before the chapter heading) (ie, the beginning of Chapter 2) is deleted by inserting blank data, and on page 158, the portion before the break position. (Ie, the end of Chapter 1) is deleted by inserting blank data. When divided by the second division method, the page 156 and the page 158 do not include portions where the contents overlap. As a result, the user can save the trouble of deleting overlapping parts when organizing and storing image files.

  The image forming unit 118 includes an image memory and a printing unit (both not shown). The image memory includes a RAM and temporarily stores print data in units of pages. In the image memory, print data input from the image processing unit 116 or transmitted from the client PCs 101, 102, 103, and the like for transmission to the printing unit in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 110 or the like is page by page. Temporarily stored, and the stored print data is output to the printing unit in synchronization with image formation by the printing unit. The printing unit is detachably attached to the photosensitive drum, the charger, the LSU (Laser Scanning Unit), the developing device, the transfer device, the cleaning device, the fixing device (none of which is shown), and the image forming apparatus 104. A toner cartridge. The printing unit further includes a manual paper feed tray, a first paper feed tray, and a second paper feed tray (none of which are shown) that are detachably attached to the image forming apparatus 104. These paper feed trays are installed so as to be lined up and down in this order, hold the recording paper, and feed the recording paper to a paper transport unit (not shown). The manual paper feed tray is a tray for a user to manually place desired recording paper, and the first paper feed tray and the second paper feed tray are trays for holding recording papers of different sizes. . The printing unit prints an image based on the print data transmitted from the image memory on a recording sheet conveyed from one of the paper feed trays via the sheet conveying unit in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 110 or the like. .

  The image determination unit 120 is actually realized by the control unit 110. The image determination unit 120 determines, for each page, whether or not there is a break in the image file received from the client PC 101, 102, or 103. In the present embodiment, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is a break when there is a chapter heading on the target page. When the image determination unit 120 determines that there is a break, the CPU 130 determines the position immediately before the chapter heading as the break position.

  The mail generation unit 122 performs compression encoding processing on the image file to be transmitted in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 110, thereby converting the image file into a predetermined email format, and attaching the converted data to the email Generate email. The format of the compression encoding process of the image file is not particularly limited, but a TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format or the like can be used.

  The communication unit 124 interfaces with the network 108. The image forming apparatus 104 can perform data communication according to a predetermined communication protocol with the client PCs 101, 102, and 103 and the mail server 107 on the network 108 via the communication unit 124. For example, the communication unit 124 can transmit the electronic mail created by the mail generation unit 122 to the mail server 107 through, for example, a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) connection.

  The image forming apparatus 104 operates each unit described above to read and print a document image on a recording sheet in accordance with an instruction based on a user input operation on the operation panel 112 or an instruction from the client PCs 101, 102, and 103. Copy mode, printer mode for receiving print data transmitted from client PCs 101, 102, 103, etc. and recording it on recording paper, scanner mode for reading original images to client PCs 101, 102, 103, etc., and scanned image Data (image file) or received image data (image file) is converted into an e-mail format, and is attached to an e-mail, and one of various modes such as an e-mail transmission mode for transmitting to the mail server 107 is executed.

<Software configuration>
The computer program for realizing the first image file dividing process is activated when the communication unit 124 receives an image file to be transmitted from the client PC 101, 102 or 103 together with an e-mail transmission instruction or the like.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the computer program for realizing the first image file dividing process reads step S101 for reading the image file, step S102 for determining whether or not there is a next page in the image file, including. When the process of step S102 is executed immediately after step S101, it is determined that the first page of the image file is the next page.

  This program is further executed when it is determined in step S102 that there is a next page (in the case of YES), and the image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page. including. If it is determined in step S103 that there is no separation (in the case of NO), the control returns to step S102.

  The program further includes a step S104 that is executed when it is determined in step S103 that there is a break (in the case of YES) and marks the break position. After the process of step S104, control returns to step S102.

  The program is further executed when it is determined in step S102 that there is no next page (in the case of NO), and the image processing unit 116 divides the image file at the marked separation position; Step S106 in which the mail generation unit 122 generates an electronic mail for each of the divided image files.

  The program further determines whether or not any of the generated e-mails exceeds the second capacity limit in steps S107 and S107, and exceeds the second capacity limit. Step S108 is executed when it is determined that there is nothing (NO), and the generated electronic mail is transmitted to the mail server 107 with the client PC 101, 102 or 103 as the destination.

  This program is further executed in step S107 when it is determined that there is one exceeding the second limit capacity (in the case of YES), and the e-mail to be transmitted exceeds the capacity limit. Step S109 for notifying the error message shown is included.

<Operation>
1 to 7, image forming apparatus 104 according to the present embodiment operates as follows. Except for the following operations, the general operation of the image forming apparatus 104 is the same as that of the conventional image forming apparatus. In the following operations, it is assumed that the client PCs 101 and 102 and the image forming apparatus 104 are in a power-on state.

  The administrator of the image forming apparatus 104 issues an instruction by an input operation on the operation panel 112 in order to perform various settings in the e-mail transmission process, and causes the display unit 140 to display a transmission setting screen 160 (see FIG. 5). Referring to FIG. 5, the administrator checks check boxes 162 and 164 displayed on transmission setting screen 160 by an input operation on operation panel 112. As a result, the process of dividing and transmitting the image file for each chapter is selected, and the process for blanking the remaining part of the previous chapter, that is, the above-described second dividing method is selected as the image file dividing method. Is done. When the check box 162 is checked by the administrator and the check box 164 is unchecked, the first division method described above is selected as the image file division method. When the check box 162 is unchecked, processing for transmitting an image file without dividing it is selected.

  The administrator further checks the check box 166 by an input operation on the operation panel 112, inputs the character string “2 MB” into the text field 168, and clears the check box 170. As a result, a process for limiting the amount of data of the e-mail to be transmitted is selected, the upper limit value of the second limit capacity is set to 2 MB, and an error message is displayed as a transmission error notification method. A method is selected. Note that the administrator sets a value that does not exceed the first limit capacity as the upper limit value of the second limit capacity. When the check box 170 is checked by the administrator, a method of notifying an error message by e-mail is selected as a transmission error notification method. When the check box 166 is unchecked, processing that does not limit the amount of data of the e-mail to be transmitted is selected.

  After performing the various settings described above, the administrator presses the OK button 172 by an input operation on the operation panel 112. When the OK button 172 is pressed, the display of the transmission setting screen 160 ends, and the selected process and method and the input numerical value are confirmed and reflected in the setting.

  The user of the client PC 101 executes application software and creates desired application data. The user designates the created application data, inputs the mail address of the client PC 102 that is the transmission destination, and then issues an e-mail transmission instruction. When an e-mail transmission instruction is given, the printer driver of the client PC 101 creates PDL data based on the designated application data as an image file. The created image file is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 104 via the network 108 together with an e-mail transmission instruction or the like.

  Referring to FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the created image file 200 is assumed to be composed of five pages of document data 202 to 210 including three chapter headings. In the image file 200, the document data 202 on the first page includes a chapter heading “1. definition”. The document data 204 on the second page includes a chapter heading “2. The document data 208 on the fourth page includes a chapter heading “3. Conclusion”. The characters constituting these chapter headings (hereinafter referred to as “headline characters”) have a font size larger than that of other characters and are bold.

  When the communication unit 124 receives the image file 200 together with an e-mail transmission instruction or the like, the CPU 130 of the image forming apparatus 104 reads the received image file 200 (step S101), and whether or not there is a next page in the image file 200. Is determined (step S102). In this case, CPU 130 determines the first page of image file 200 as the next page, and determines that there is a next page in image file 200 (YES in step S102).

  The image determination unit 120 determines whether or not the next page has a break based on whether or not the chapter data is included in the first page of document data 202 (step S103). In other words, the image determination unit 120 detects, as a heading character, a character whose font size is larger than that of other characters and is bold as the heading character from the target document data, and further, a character constituted by the detected heading character When a column is detected, that is, when a chapter heading is detected, it is determined that there is a break on the next page. In this case, the document data 202 includes a chapter headline composed of the character string “1. definition”, and therefore the image determination unit 120 determines that there is a break (YES in step S103).

  When the above determination is made by the image determination unit 120, the CPU 130 marks the break position as follows (step S104). That is, the CPU 130 determines that the position immediately before the chapter heading “1. definition” is a delimiter position, and inserts a symbol indicating the delimiter position (hereinafter referred to as “delimiter symbol”) at the delimiter position. The delimiter is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include an escape code and a page break code.

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 200 (YES in step S102), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S103). Since the document data 204 of the second page, which is the next page, has a chapter headline consisting of the character string “2. Consideration contents”, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is a break (in step S103). YES) The CPU 130 determines the position immediately before the chapter heading “2. Examination contents” as the break position, and marks the break position by inserting a break symbol into the break position (step S104).

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 200 (YES in step S102), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S103). Since the document data 206 of the third page, which is the next page, does not include a chapter heading, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is no break (NO in step S103).

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 200 (YES in step S102), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S103). Since the document data 208 of the fourth page, which is the next page, has a chapter headline consisting of the character string “3. Conclusion”, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is a break (in step S103). YES). The CPU 130 determines the position immediately before the chapter heading “3. Conclusion” as a break position, and inserts a break symbol into the break position to mark the break position (step S104).

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 200 (YES in step S102), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S103). The chapter data is not included in the document data 210 of the fifth page, which is the next page, so the image determination unit 120 determines that there is no break (NO in step S103).

  If CPU 130 determines that there is no next page in image file 200 (NO in step S102), image processing unit 116 divides image file 200 at the marked separation position according to the second division method. (Step S105). Referring to FIG. 7, an image file 200 is divided by lines divided for each chapter, and thereby three image files 220 to 224 are created. The image file 220 includes document data 202 including the contents of the first chapter. The image file 222 includes document data 204 to 208 including the contents of Chapter 2. The image file 224 includes document data 208 and 210 including the contents of Chapter 3. In the document data 208 that is the last page of the image file 222, the contents after the break position (that is, the beginning of Chapter 3) are deleted. In the document data 208 (exactly copy data) which is the first page of the image file 224, the contents before the delimiter position (that is, the end of Chapter 2) are deleted.

  The mail generation unit 122 generates an e-mail for each of the divided image files 220 to 224 (step S106). That is, the mail generation unit 122 converts each of the divided files 220 to 224 into a predetermined electronic mail format, and generates an electronic mail to which the converted data is attached.

  The CPU 130 determines whether or not any of the generated three e-mails exceeds the second limit capacity (here, 2 MB) (step S107).

  If none of the three e-mails exceeds the second capacity limit (NO in step S107), CPU 130 sends the three e-mails to mail server 107 with client PC 102 as the destination. (Step S108). The mail server 107 stores the received mail in association with the client PC 102. The client PC 102 confirms with the mail server 107 that there is an e-mail addressed to itself, and receives the e-mail addressed to itself from the mail server 107.

  If any of the three e-mails exceeds the second limit capacity (YES in step S107), the display unit 140 indicates that the e-mail to be transmitted exceeds the capacity limit. Is displayed (step S109).

  If a method for notifying an error message by e-mail is set as a sending error notification method, the e-mail including the error message described above is sent to the client PC 101 that is the transmission source of the e-mail sending instruction. It is transmitted to the mail server 107 as a destination. The mail server 107 stores the received mail in association with the client PC 101. The client PC 101 confirms with the mail server 107 that there is an e-mail addressed to itself, and receives the e-mail addressed to itself from the mail server 107.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment of the present invention, instead of the first image file dividing process described above, the second image file dividing process is executed, the image files to be divided are different, and The configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the method for determining whether or not there is a break in the next page is different. Hereinafter, different points will be described.

  In the present embodiment, the image file to be subjected to the second image file division process is not based on application data created by the client PCs 101, 102, 103, and the like, but by the image reading unit 114 of the image forming apparatus 104. This is based on the read document image.

<Software configuration>
Referring to FIG. 8, in the computer program for realizing the second image file dividing process, the processes in steps S202 to S210 are the same as those in steps S101 to S109 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, processing different from the processing shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

  In the computer program for realizing the second image file division processing, an instruction for requesting an e-mail transmission of scan data (hereinafter referred to as a “scan data transmission instruction”) by a user input operation on the operation panel 112 is provided. It is activated by being made. Referring to FIG. 8, this program is executed before the process of step S202, and includes step S201 for causing image reading unit 114 to read an image of a document and converting the read image information into an image file. .

<Operation>
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIGS. 8 to 10, image forming apparatus 104 according to the present embodiment operates as follows. Except for the following operations, the general operation of the image forming apparatus 104 is the same as that of the conventional image forming apparatus. In the following operation, it is assumed that the client PC 102 and the image forming apparatus 104 are in a power-on state.

  The administrator of the image forming apparatus 104 issues an instruction by an input operation on the operation panel 112 to make various settings in the e-mail transmission process, and causes the display unit 140 to display a transmission setting screen (not shown). The administrator selects the process of dividing and transmitting the image file at the position of the mark handwritten with the dedicated pen by an input operation on the operation panel 112, and uses the above-described second dividing method as the image file dividing method. select. The dedicated pen described above is a pen that uses ink that is recognized by the image determination unit 120 to be distinguished from other images.

  The administrator further selects a process for limiting the amount of data of the e-mail to be transmitted by an input operation on the operation panel 112, and sets a value that does not exceed the first limit capacity as the upper limit value of the second limit capacity. A character string “2MB” is input, and a method for displaying an error message is selected as a transmission error notification method.

  After performing the various settings described above, the administrator presses an OK button (not shown) displayed on the transmission setting screen by an input operation on the operation panel 112. When the OK button is pressed, the display of the transmission setting screen ends, and the selected process and method and the input numerical value are confirmed and reflected in the setting.

  The user handwrites a mark (hereinafter, referred to as “handwritten mark”) indicating a separation position on a desired document image using a dedicated pen. In the present embodiment, there are four documents, and the user writes a handwritten mark on the second document.

  The user places the above-described four documents on an automatic document feeder (not shown) of the image forming apparatus 104, and inputs the mail address of the client PC 102 that is the transmission destination by an input operation on the operation panel 112. After that, a scan data transmission instruction is issued.

  When a scan data transmission instruction is issued, the image reading unit 114 of the image forming apparatus 104 sequentially reads four documents placed on the automatic document feeder, and converts the read image information into an image file (step S201). ).

  Referring to FIG. 9, in the present embodiment, the created image file 300 is assumed to be composed of document data 302 to 308 for four pages. In the image file 300, the document data 304 on the second page includes data 310 (hereinafter referred to as “handwritten mark data”) corresponding to the handwritten mark.

  The CPU 130 of the image forming apparatus 104 reads the created image file 300 (step S202), and determines whether or not there is a next page in the image file 300 (step S203). In this case, CPU 130 determines the first page of image file 300 as the next page, and determines that there is a next page in image file 300 (YES in step S203).

  The image determination unit 120 determines whether or not there is a break on the next page based on whether or not the first page of document data 302 includes handwritten mark data (step S204). In this case, since the handwritten mark data does not exist in the document data 302, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is no separation (NO in step S204).

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 300 (YES in step S203), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S204). Since the handwritten mark data 310 exists in the document data 304 of the second page, which is the next page, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is a break (YES in step S204).

  When the determination is made by the image determination unit 120, the CPU 130 marks the break position as follows (step S205). That is, the CPU 130 determines the position of the handwritten mark data 310 as the break position, and inserts a break symbol at the break position. In the present embodiment, the delimiter is not particularly limited. For example, the same delimiters as those used in the first embodiment described above can be used. At this time, the handwritten mark data 310 is deleted from the document data 304.

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 300 (YES in step S203), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S204). Since there is no handwritten mark data in the document data 306 of the third page, which is the next page, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is no break (NO in step S204).

  CPU 130 further determines that there is a next page in image file 300 (YES in step S203), and image determination unit 120 determines whether there is a break in the next page (step S204). Since there is no handwritten mark data in the document data 308 of the fourth page, which is the next page, the image determination unit 120 determines that there is no break (NO in step S204).

  If CPU 130 determines that there is no next page in image file 300 (NO in step S203), image processing unit 116 divides image file 300 at the marked separation position according to the second division method. (Step S206). Referring to FIG. 10, an image file 300 is divided by a line at a position to which handwritten mark data is attached, and thereby two image files 320 and 322 are created. In the document data 304 which is the last page of the image file 320, the contents after the break position are deleted. In the document data 304 (precisely copy data) which is the first page of the image file 322, the contents before the break position are deleted. The document data 304 and its copy do not include handwritten mark data. Thus, although the handwritten mark is read by the image reading unit 114, it is not reflected in the data at the time of transmission.

  The mail generation unit 122 generates an e-mail for each of the divided image files 320 and 322 (step S207). That is, the mail generation unit 122 converts the divided files 320 and 322 into a predetermined electronic mail format, and generates an electronic mail to which the converted data is attached.

  CPU 130 determines whether any of the generated two e-mails exceeds the second limit capacity (here, 2 MB) (step S208).

  If none of the two e-mails exceeds the second capacity limit (NO in step S208), CPU 130 sends the two e-mails to mail server 107 with client PC 102 as the destination. (Step S209). The mail server 107 stores the received mail in association with the client PC 102. The client PC 102 confirms with the mail server 107 that there is an e-mail addressed to itself, and receives the e-mail addressed to itself from the mail server 107.

  If any of the two e-mails exceeds the second limit capacity (YES in step S208), the display unit 140 indicates that the e-mail to be transmitted exceeds the capacity limit. Is displayed (step S210).

<Action and effect>
According to the first and second embodiments, in the image forming apparatus 104, the image determination unit 120 detects a break position from the image file to be transmitted, and the image processing unit 116 detects the break position. The mail generating unit 122 divides the image file, and transmits the divided image file. As described above, since the image file is divided and transmitted at the delimiter position, the image file can be transmitted without causing problems such as a transmission error. In addition, the user can easily confirm the contents of the image file. Furthermore, it is possible to save the user from having to re-divide and combine image files on the PC. Therefore, user convenience is improved.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the image determination unit 120 detects the position immediately before the heading as the break position. As a result, when the image file is document data, the image file is divided at the content-divided positions, so that the user can easily confirm the content of the image file. In addition, it is possible to save the user from having to re-divide and combine image files on the PC. Therefore, the user convenience is further improved.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the image determination unit 120 detects a character string having a font size larger than that of other characters and composed of bold characters as a headline. Thereby, the delimiter position can be detected more easily and accurately.

  The headline detection method is not limited to the method described above. For example, since the headline character at the beginning of a line is often a number in a chapter headline, the image determination unit 120 may detect, from the target document data, a character string having a number at the beginning of the line as a chapter headline. Further, since the line feed width (line spacing) immediately after the chapter heading is often larger than other line feed widths, the image determination unit 120 determines that the line feed width is larger than other line feed widths from the target document data. You may detect the character string immediately before the part as a chapter heading.

  In addition, according to the second embodiment, the image determination unit 120 detects the position of handwritten mark data based on the handwritten mark drawn with ink that is recognized separately from other images as a delimiter position. Thus, the user can divide the image file at a desired separation position by handwriting a mark at a desired position of the original image with a dedicated pen or the like using dedicated ink. Therefore, the user convenience is further improved.

  Further, according to the first and second embodiments, in the image forming apparatus 104, the CPU 130 inserts a predetermined symbol (that is, a delimiter symbol) at the detected delimiter position, and the image processing unit 116 The image file is divided based on the symbol. As a result, the image file can be divided more easily and accurately.

  Further, according to the first and second embodiments, the image processing unit 116 divides an image file including a page having a separation position in the middle into a first image file and a second image file. To do. The image processing unit 116 divides the image file so that the page becomes the last page of the first image file and the page obtained by copying the page becomes the first page of the second image file. A division method can be used. By dividing in this way, the last page of the first image file and the first page of the second image file include portions where the contents overlap. As a result, the user can easily grasp the context of the contents of the first image file and the second image file.

  Further, according to the first and second embodiments, the image processing unit 116 inserts blank data in the portion after the break position in the last page of the first image file, and the break position in the first page. The above-described second division method for inserting blank data in the previous part can be used. By dividing in this way, the last page of the first image file and the first page of the second image file do not include overlapping portions. As a result, the user can more reliably save the trouble of deleting overlapping portions when organizing and storing image files.

  Further, according to the first and second embodiments, in the image forming apparatus 104, the CPU 130 determines whether or not any of the divided image files exceeds a predetermined data amount. When the CPU 130 determines that there is an amount exceeding the predetermined data amount, the display unit 140 displays an error message, or the communication unit 124 transmits an e-mail including the error message. The occurrence of an error is notified. Thereby, the user can easily know that the divided image file does not satisfy the limit such as the capacity limit of the mail server. Therefore, problems such as transmission errors can be easily avoided.

<Modification>
In the first embodiment, the delimiter detection and delimiter position mark (delimiter symbol insertion) (steps S101 to S104 in FIG. 4) are performed by the control unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 104. The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, it may be automatically performed by a printer driver of the client PCs 101, 102, and 103.

  In the first embodiment, the first image file dividing process is executed when an e-mail transmission instruction is issued. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the first image file dividing process may be executed when an instruction is issued to request e-mail transmission simultaneously with the printing process.

  In the second embodiment, the position of the handwritten mark is determined as the break position, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, optical character recognition by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is performed on the image file converted by the image reading unit 114, and the first embodiment described above and the modification thereof are performed on data based on the recognized character. Similarly, chapter headings may be detected, and the detected chapter headings may be determined as break positions. This makes it possible to easily detect the break position even in an image file read by a scanner device or the like. Therefore, the user convenience is further improved.

  In the second embodiment, the handwritten mark data is deleted from the image file so that the handwritten mark data is not reflected in the data at the time of transmission. However, the present invention is limited to such an embodiment. Not. For example, a handwritten mark in a print image or a display image based on the data after the second image file division processing is performed by making the ink used for the dedicated pen into a color that is difficult to visually recognize, such as a fluorescent color. An image based on the data may be printed or displayed in a state where it is difficult to visually recognize the image.

  In the second embodiment, the second image file division process is executed when a scan data transmission instruction is issued. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, the second image file division process may be executed when an instruction is issued to request transmission of scan data e-mail simultaneously with the printing process.

  In the first and second embodiments, the administrator of the image forming apparatus 104 performs various settings in the e-mail transmission process, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, a user who has performed user authentication with a user ID may perform various settings in the e-mail transmission process, and the settings may be registered for each user ID.

  Further, according to the first and second embodiments, the e-mail transmission process is not executed when any e-mail exceeds the second limit capacity. Is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, only e-mails exceeding the limit capacity may not be transmitted, and other e-mails not exceeding the limit capacity may be transmitted.

  Further, according to the first and second embodiments, the image forming apparatus 104 is exemplified as the image transmitting unit. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and may be, for example, a scanner apparatus. Good.

  The embodiment disclosed this time is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The scope of the present invention is indicated by each claim in the scope of claims after taking into account the description of the detailed description of the invention, and all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the wording described therein are included. Including.

1 Network system 101, 102, 103 Client PC
104, 105, 106 Image forming apparatus 107 Mail server 114 Image reading unit 116 Image processing unit 120 Image determination unit 122 Mail generation unit 124 Communication unit 130 CPU
140 display

Claims (11)

A detecting means for detecting a delimiter position from an image file to be transmitted;
Dividing means for dividing the image file at the detected separation position;
An image transmission apparatus comprising: transmission means for transmitting the divided image file.   The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a headline detection unit that detects a position immediately before a headline as a break position.   The image transmission device according to claim 2, wherein the heading detection unit includes a unit that detects, as the heading, a character string composed of characters that have a font size larger than that of other characters and are bold. .   The image transmission device according to claim 2, wherein the heading detection unit includes a unit that detects a character string having a numeral at the beginning of a line as a number as the heading.   The image transmission device according to claim 2, wherein the headline detection unit includes a unit that detects a character string immediately before a portion where a linefeed width is larger than another linefeed width as the headline.   The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a mark detection unit that detects a position of data based on a mark drawn by ink recognized as distinguished from other images as the separation position. The image transmission device further includes an insertion means for inserting a predetermined symbol at the detected break position,
The image transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the dividing unit includes a unit that divides the image file based on the predetermined symbol. The dividing unit further includes a page dividing unit that divides the image file including a page in which the separation position is provided in the middle into a first image file and a second image file,
The page dividing means divides the image file so that the page becomes the last page of the first image file and the page copied from the page becomes the first page of the second image file. The image transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   9. The page dividing means includes insertion means for inserting blank data in a portion after the delimiter position in the last page and inserting blank data in a portion before the delimiter position in the first page. The image transmission device described in 1. The image transmission device further includes:
Determining means for determining whether or not the divided image file exceeds a predetermined amount of data;
The notification means for notifying the occurrence of an error when it is determined by the determination means that there is something exceeding a predetermined amount of data, according to any one of claims 1 to 9. The image transmission device described. The image transmission device further includes:
Image reading means for reading an image of a document and converting the read image information into an image file;
The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a character recognition unit that performs optical character recognition on the converted image file.

Images