JP2017069592A - Image reading apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus capable of preventing an unnecessary image other than a document image from being outputted.SOLUTION: The image reading apparatus comprises: read means capable of reading image information of a document; storage means for storing a prescribed image; determination means which determines whether the image information read by the read means includes the prescribed image stored in the storage means; and correction means which, when the determination means makes an affirmative determination, corrects the prescribed image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus capable of optically reading a document image and impressing a document on which the reading has been completed, and an image forming apparatus including the image reading apparatus in an apparatus main body.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some image forming apparatuses such as printers and copiers that form an image on a sheet include an image reading apparatus in the apparatus body, and copy an original image read by the image reading apparatus onto a sheet. Some of the image reading apparatuses include a sheet conveying unit that supplies a document stacked on a stacking tray by a user to the image reading apparatus while separating the documents one by one.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 includes a stamp unit that gives a specific mark to a document on which an image has been read during FAX transmission or reading of the document, so that the image can be read or transmitted normally. There has been proposed an image reading apparatus that can determine whether or not the information has been received.

JP 2006-93827 A

  However, in the case where the stamping means as in Patent Document 1 is provided, when a document having an image read and a specific mark is read again, even a specific mark that is not a document image is read at the time of reading. End up. Therefore, there is a problem that an unnecessary image that is not a document image is output as a document image.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image reading apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can prevent an unnecessary image other than a document image from being output.

  A reading unit capable of reading image information of a document, a storage unit storing a predetermined image, and determining whether the image information read by the reading unit includes the predetermined image stored in the storage unit And a correction unit that corrects the predetermined image when the determination unit determines that the predetermined image is present.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unnecessary images other than the original image from being output.

Sectional view of image reading apparatus 100 The block diagram which shows the control structure of the image reading apparatus 100 Flowchart showing control operation of image reading apparatus 100 Explanatory drawing of determination method of stamp image Explanatory drawing of image processing example of stamp image

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an image reading apparatus used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine is taken as an example of the image reading apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. The following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. .

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, the image reading apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an image reading apparatus 100 according to this embodiment.

  Here, the image reading apparatus 100 is connected to an unillustrated image forming apparatus, so that when copying a document, the image data is sent to the image forming apparatus, and on the recording medium based on the sent image data. A read image can be formed. It is also possible to transmit image data acquired via a FAX line (not shown) to an external device.

  The image reading apparatus 100 mainly includes an image reading unit 10 that reads an image of a document D and a document feeding unit 20 that feeds the document D to the image reading unit 10.

The image reading unit 10 is supplied by a document table glass 30 on which a document is placed by a user when the document is fixed and read by the user, and by the document feeding unit 20 when the document D is scanned while being conveyed. There is provided a scanning reading glass 40 through which the fed original D passes, a reading scanning unit 50 which is provided so as to be able to reciprocate under the original table glass 30 and the scanning reading glass 40, and reads an image of the original.
The reading scanning unit 50 can read a document image by irradiating the document with light from a light source. Further, the reading scanning unit 50 is engaged with the driving belt 54, and the driving force of the driving motor 55 is transmitted via the driving belt 54, so that the reading scanning unit 50 can move in the direction of arrow H along the guide shaft 56. . As the drive motor 55, a stepping motor, a DC motor, or the like is used.

  Here, a white reference plate 60 serving as a white reference for performing shading correction for correcting distortion of the output image signal is provided at the end of the document table glass 30.

  When reading a document image, the reading scanning unit 50 emits light to the white reference plate 60, and a shading correction value for performing shading correction is obtained from the reflected light. Further, light amount adjustment or the like is performed in order to keep the exposure amount of the light source constant during shading correction.

Above the image reading unit 10, a document feeding unit 20 is provided as a supply unit for supplying and transporting a document. The document feeding unit 20 is attached to the image reading unit 10 by an opening / closing support member (not shown) such as a hinge so as to be rotatable around the back side in FIG. For this reason, the document feeder 20 can open and close the upper surfaces of the document table glass 30 and the flow reading glass 40.
In the case of fixed reading, a document placed on the document table glass 30 by the user is pressed and fixed on the document table glass 30 by a document pressure plate disposed at the lower part of the document feeding unit 20. Then, an original image on the original platen glass 30 is read while the reading scanning unit 50 as reading means extending in the main scanning direction moves below the original platen glass 30 with the original fixed. At this time, the direction in which the reading scanning unit 50 moves (the direction of the arrow H) is referred to as the sub-scanning direction, and the direction orthogonal to the direction is referred to as the main scanning direction.
In the case of flow reading, the reading scanning unit 50 moves to a predetermined reading position below the flow reading glass 40 and stops. Then, the document feeding unit 20 takes in the document D placed on the document placing unit 21 by the feeding roller 22 and feeds it to the separation unit 23 including the separation roller 23a and the separation plate 23b. Here, when a plurality of documents D are fed by the feeding roller 22, the separation unit 23 conveys the document D while separating it into one sheet. Next, when the registration sensor S1 detects the leading edge of the document D, the registration roller pair 24 receives the leading edge of the document D conveyed from the separation unit 23 and corrects the skew of the document D. Here, in addition to measuring the skew correction timing of the document D, the registration sensor S1 measures the feeding timing by the feeding roller 22 in response to the detection of the trailing edge of the document D, and determines the document D according to the detection time. Size determination can be performed.
The document D, whose skew has been corrected by the registration roller pair 24, passes through the conveyance path PS1 to the reading position on the flow reading glass 40 where the reading scanning unit 50 reads an image in accordance with the reading timing detected by the read sensor S2. Transported through. At this time, the document D is conveyed from the upper surface of the flow reading glass 40 with the amount of floating regulated by the platen roller 25 that rotates at a predetermined number of rotations, and an image is read by the reading scanning unit 50.

  A pair of lead rollers 26a and 26b are provided upstream and downstream of the platen roller 25 in the document conveyance direction, respectively, and the document D is read by the reading roller unit 26a and 26b while the image is read by the reading scanning unit 50. Being transported.

  The original D on which the image has been read is conveyed to the reverse discharge roller pair 27 by the read roller pair 26b, and is discharged to the original discharge unit 28 by the reverse discharge roller pair 27 as it is at the time of single-side reading.

Here, on the upstream side of the pair of reverse discharge rollers 27 in the document conveyance direction, a stamp unit 60 is provided that gives a specific mark to the document D on which an image has been read by the reading scanning unit 50. The user can easily determine that reading has been performed normally without skipping due to double feeding, etc., by giving a specific mark to the document D by the stamp unit 60.
The stamp unit 60 is operated by a stamp solenoid 307 (FIG. 2), which will be described later, and can stamp a specific mark on the rear end of the document D discharged by the reverse discharge roller pair 27. When the stamp unit 60 gives a specific mark to the document D, the reverse discharge roller pair 27 temporarily stops the discharge of the document, and resumes the discharge of the document D after the stamp unit 60 completes the stamping.
As for the operation of the reverse discharge roller pair 27 when the stamp unit 60 is operated, the discharge of the document D is temporarily stopped in the above description. However, the stamp unit 60 is stamped during the discharge operation of the reverse discharge roller pair 27. It may be a simple configuration. Further, although the stamp unit 60 gives a specific mark to the trailing edge of the document D, it may be configured to give a specific mark to the leading edge of the document D. In this case, by stamping the end portion of the document D, it is possible to increase a possibility that a mark is applied to a blank portion that is not an image area of the document D, and it is possible to prevent the visibility of the document image from being deteriorated. .

  Further, a discharge sensor S3 is provided on the upstream side in the transport direction of the pair of reverse discharge rollers 27, and it is possible to detect a stay jam or a delay jam at the time of discharge. Similarly, the registration sensor S1 and the read sensor S2 can detect a stay jam, a delay jam, or the like during document conveyance.

  When reading both sides of the document D, the first scanning unit 50 reads the first side, the stamp unit 60 marks the first side of the document D, and then stops the reverse discharge roller 27 during document discharge. The document D is rotated back to the inside of the apparatus, and the flapper 29 switches the conveyance path to the reverse conveyance path PS2, thereby feeding the document D again into the conveyance path PS1 and reading the second surface by the reading scanning unit 50. Thereafter, the document D from which the second side has been read is marked on the second side by the stamp unit 60 and discharged to the document discharge unit 28 by the reverse discharge roller pair 27 in the same manner as in single-sided reading.

  In the image reading unit 10, the reading sensor 310 (FIG. 2) mounted on the reading scanning unit 50 irradiates light to the original and reflects the irradiated light, regardless of whether the reading method is a flow reading or a fixed reading. Is received and the original is optically read.

Next, a control configuration of the image reading apparatus 100 in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the image reading apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.

  A CPU 301 mounted on the DC controller board 300 has a ROM 302 and a RAM 303 inside, and controls the entire image reading apparatus 100. A ROM 302 stores a firmware program for controlling the image reading apparatus 100 and a boot program for controlling the firmware program, and is used by the CPU 301. A RAM 303 is a work area for the CPU 301 and a temporary storage area for data.

  The registration sensor S1, the lead sensor S2, and the discharge sensor S3 shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the DC controller board 300, and the CPU 301 controls the image reading apparatus 100 from the detection results of the sensors.

  The paper feed motor 304 drives the feed roller 22, the separation roller 23 a, and the registration roller pair 24. The read motor 305 drives the read roller pair 26 a and b and the reverse discharge roller pair 27. Here, the paper feed motor 304, the read motor 305, and the drive motor 55 are controlled by the CPU 300 based on the detection signals of the registration sensor S1, the read sensor S2, and the discharge sensor S3, thereby carrying the document and reading the image. Is called. In this embodiment, stepping motors are used as the paper feed motor 304, the read motor 305, and the drive motor 55, and these motors are input via a motor driver (not shown) of the DC controller board 300. It is configured to be driven at a constant current by a motor current control signal.

  The pressure contact solenoid 306 is operated by a phase excitation signal input from the CPU 301 via a driver (not shown), and can press and separate the paper feed roller 22 from the document.

  The stamp solenoid 307 is controlled by the CPU 301 to operate the stamp unit 60 and stamp a specific mark on the rear end of the document D discharged by the reverse discharge roller pair 27.

  The operation unit 308 can accept an instruction from a user via an operation panel or the like, and the CPU 301 performs a document conveyance operation by the document feeding unit 20 or a stamp by the stamp unit 60 based on the instruction from the user. Control the behavior.

  The communication I / F 309 is connected to an external terminal device such as a FAX, an image forming apparatus, or a PC, and can output image data read by the image reading unit 10 to the outside through the communication I / F 309.

  The CPU 301 controls the reading sensor 310 mounted on the drive motor 55 and the reading scanning unit 50 based on an instruction from the user acquired via the operation unit 308 and detection results of various sensors of the document feeding unit 20. Read the original image.

Next, the control operation of the image reading apparatus 100 in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the CPU 301 at the time of document scanning in the present embodiment. In this embodiment, the image reading unit 10 and the document feeding unit 20 are controlled by the CPU 301, but may be controlled by different CPUs.

  When receiving an instruction to start the document flow reading operation by the user via the operation unit 308, the CPU 301 controls the drive motor 55 to move the reading scanning unit 50 to the reading position of the reading glass 40 (S301). Then, the CPU 301 controls the paper feed motor 304, the read motor 305, and the pressure contact solenoid 306, and starts conveying the document (S302).

  When the read sensor S2 is turned on (Yes in S303) and the leading edge of the document is detected by the read sensor S2, the CPU 301 starts reading an image by the reading sensor 310 mounted on the reading scanning unit 50 (S304). If the read sensor S2 is not turned on (No in S303), the process waits until the leading edge of the document reaches the read sensor S2.

  When it is determined that the read sensor S2 is turned off (Yes in S305) and a predetermined time has elapsed (Yes in S306) and the trailing edge of the document has passed the reading position on the reading glass 40, the CPU 301 reads the reading. The image reading by the sensor 310 is terminated (S307). Here, when the read sensor S2 is not OFF (No in S305), the image reading in S304 is continued. When the predetermined time has not elapsed since the lead sensor S2 is turned off (Yes in S305) (No in S306), the process waits until the predetermined time elapses.

  Next, when the discharge sensor S3 is turned OFF (Yes in S308) and the CPU 301 determines that the document D is discharged to the document discharge unit 28, the CPU 301 stops the feeding motor 304, the read motor 305, and the pressure contact solenoid 306. The conveyance of the original is stopped (S309). If the discharge sensor S3 is not turned OFF (No in S308), the conveyance of the document is continued until the document D is discharged to the document discharge unit 28.

  Next, the CPU 301 determines whether or not there is a stamp image in the stamp area of the document image read in S304 (S310). The determination method at this time will be described later with reference to FIG.

  If there is a stamp image in the stamp area in the document image (Yes in S310), the CPU 301 performs image processing on the stamp image (S311), and outputs the document image via the communication I / F 309 (S312). Then, the document scanning operation is finished. On the other hand, when there is no stamp image in the stamp area in the document image (No in S310), the CPU 301 outputs the document image via the communication I / F 309 without performing image processing on the stamp image (S312). Ends the flow-reading operation.

  The above-described control operation at the time of document flow reading shows the operation for reading one document. By repeating this control operation, an image is read from a plurality of documents, depending on the presence or absence of a stamp image. Image correction may be performed. When reading a plurality of originals, it may be configured to perform image correction on the stamp image after all originals are read.

  Next, a method for determining the presence / absence of a stamp image in S310 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a stamp image determination method.

  In this embodiment, the presence / absence of a stamp image is determined from the matching rate between the pixel data of the stamp image stored in advance and the pixel data of the stamp area of the document image read in S304.

  Here, the pixel data of the stamp image stored in advance is assumed to be FIG. When the pixel data in the stamp area of the document image read in S304 has a matching rate equal to or higher than a certain value as shown in FIG. 4B, the CPU 301 determines that there is a stamp image in the stamp area in the document image. Image correction is performed on the stamp image. On the other hand, if the pixel data in the stamp area of the document image read in S304 has a matching rate equal to or less than a certain value as shown in FIG. 4C, the CPU 301 determines that there is no stamp image in the stamp area in the document image. Note that the coincidence rate used for the determination at this time may be changed depending on a stamp image stored in advance, and may be set in any way as long as it is a ratio that can be determined as a stamp image at a predetermined value or more.

  Next, the image processing method of S311 in this embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an image processing example of a stamp image.

  In this embodiment, when it is determined that there is a stamp image in the stamp area in the document image, image correction is performed according to the luminance value of the pixels around the stamp image. As a result, it is possible to prevent an unnecessary image other than the original image from being output even when the original document with the stamp image is read again.

  For example, if there is a stamp image as shown in FIG. 5A, the portion indicated by a broken line in FIG. 5A is replaced with a luminance value around the stamp image, so that the stamp image as shown in FIG. Correct for. In this way, by performing the image correction by replacing the stamp image with the brightness value around the stamp image, it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the image quality after the correction.

  Further, by performing image correction by replacing the luminance values around the stamp image, even if the luminance value of the background color as shown in FIG. 5C is low, the reduction in the image quality after correction is reduced. be able to.

  In the image processing example shown in FIG. 5, the inside of the broken line shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C is corrected. However, only the portion different from the brightness value around the stamp image is corrected in the area within the broken line. It is good also as a structure.

  Moreover, although the method of replacing using the brightness value around the stamp image has been described as the correction method, the brightness value (white 255 to black 0) used for correction may be arbitrarily selected by the user.

  In this way, by correcting the stamp image by replacing the brightness value around the stamp image, it is possible to reduce the degradation of the image quality after correction and prevent the output of an unnecessary image in the document image.

  In this embodiment, the case of reading a document conveyed on the flow reading glass 40 by the document feeding unit 20 has been described. However, the document feeding unit 20 may be used to read a document placed on the platen glass 30.

  In this embodiment, the presence or absence of the stamp image is determined from the matching rate between the pixel data of the stamp image stored in advance and the pixel data of the read stamp image area, and if there is a stamp image, it is unnecessary by performing image correction. Prevent image output.

  At this time, the presence or absence of the stamp image is determined based on the matching rate with the stamp image stored in advance. It is possible to prevent the character area from being corrected.

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when a document with a specific mark is read again, the presence or absence of a stamp image is determined. If a stamp image exists, the brightness value around the stamp image is determined. And the stamp image are replaced and corrected, so that it is possible to prevent unnecessary images from being output in the document image.

  In addition, by correcting the stamp image by replacing the brightness value around the stamp image, it is possible to reduce the deterioration of the image quality after the stamp image correction.

<Other embodiments>
In the stamp image presence / absence determination shown in FIG. 4, the presence / absence of the stamp image in the stamp area in the document image is determined from the matching rate with the pixel data of the stamp image stored in advance. As another embodiment of the stamp image presence / absence determination method, the presence / absence determination of the stamp image may be performed based on whether or not an image having a luminance value corresponding to color information stored in advance exists in the stamp area in the document image. .

  In addition, when there are a plurality of stamp images stored in advance, the pixel data of each of the plurality of stamp images is compared with the pixel data of the read image data, and the matching rate for any pixel data is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. In this case, it may be determined that a stamp image is provided.

  Further, when it can be determined that the position where the stamp is added is outside the character area in the document image, the uniform stamp area image may be corrected without determining the presence or absence of the stamp image.

  Also in this embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to prevent the output of an unnecessary image in the document image. In addition, it is possible to reduce a decrease in image quality after stamp image correction.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image reading part 20 ... Document feeding part 40 ... Flowing reading glass 50 ... Reading scanning unit 60 ... Stamp part 100 ... Image reading apparatus 301 ... CPU
310 ... Reading sensor 307 ... Stamp solenoid

Claims (7)

Reading means capable of reading image information of a document;
Storage means for storing a predetermined image;
Determination means for determining whether the image information read by the reading means includes the predetermined image stored in the storage means;
A correction unit that corrects the predetermined image when the determination unit determines that the predetermined image is present;
An image reading apparatus comprising: A stamp unit that performs a stamp process on an edge of the document that has been read by the reading unit;
The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores a stamp image applied by the stamp unit as the predetermined image. The determination unit has the predetermined image when the matching rate between the pixel data of the predetermined image stored in the storage unit and the pixel data of the image information read by the reading unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined level. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the image reading device is determined. The determination unit determines that the predetermined image exists when a predetermined luminance value corresponding to the color information stored in the storage unit exists in the image information read by the reading unit. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The correction unit corrects the predetermined image based on a luminance value outside the region of the predetermined image when the determination unit determines that the predetermined image is present. Item 5. The image reading device according to any one of Items 4 to 5. It further includes an operation unit that receives an instruction from the user,
The correction unit corrects the predetermined image based on a luminance value instructed by a user from the operation unit when the determination unit determines that the predetermined image is present. The image reading apparatus according to claim 1. An image reading apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
Image forming means for forming an image on a sheet based on image information read by the image reading device;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

Images