JP2017208597A - Image processing apparatus and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

CONSTITUTION: An image forming apparatus (10) comprises a scanner part (14) that scans a book cover and outputs a cover image. A front cover division part (56) includes a character area detection part (64) that detects a character area from the cover image, a non-character area detection part (66) that detects a non-character area in the cover image by using information on the position of the detected character area, a division position determination part (68) that determines a position to divide the cover image (division position) on the basis of the character area and non-character area, and an image division part (70) that divides the cover image into partial images at the division position. The front cover division part outputs images of the front cover, back cover, backbone, and sleeve from data output part (60) according to the determination from a front cover determination part (58).EFFECT: Since a division position for partial areas is determined on the basis of a cover image, necessary images of portions of a front cover can be reliably obtained without requiring a user's troublesome operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus. In particular, for example, an image of each part (front cover, back cover, back cover, and sleeve) of a book cover is acquired from cover image data obtained by reading a book cover attached to a book. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus.

  In the background art of Patent Document 1, a book cover having a front cover, a back cover, and a back cover is scanned, cover image information is acquired, and the widths of the front cover, the back cover, and the back cover are acquired. The image data of the front cover, the back cover, and the back cover of the book cover is acquired. The width of the spine is estimated from the number of pages of the body text or the distance between the scanning surface of the flatbed scanner and the scanner cover, and is acquired by user input or from the database based on the book identification number. Further, the widths of the front cover and the back cover are acquired by the width of the scanned image of the body, user input, or acquired from the database based on the book identification number.

JP 2014-232947 A

  The thickness of a piece of paper used for the text of a book varies, and it is difficult to estimate the thickness of the book from the number of pages. In addition, the hard cover and the soft cover do not take into account the difference in thickness of the cover, and it is difficult to estimate the width of the back cover from only the paper information of the book body.

  Further, when acquiring the widths of the back cover, the front cover, and the back cover by a user operation, it is necessary to have the user perform the operation. The same applies when the user inputs the size and thickness of the book.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a novel image processing apparatus and image forming apparatus.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus that can reliably acquire necessary images of each part of a book cover without troublesome operations by a user.

  1st invention is an image processing apparatus which takes out each partial image of the said book cover from the cover image data which was attached to the book and read the book cover which has the 1st side and the 2nd side, Comprising: The character in cover image data A character area detection unit for detecting an area, a non-character area detection unit for detecting a non-character area where no character exists from one end to the other end of the second side in the cover image data based on the character area, and a character area detection unit Based on the character area and the non-character area detected by the non-character area detection unit, the division position determination unit that determines the division position at which the cover image should be divided into the partial images, and the division position determined by the division position determination unit An image processing apparatus includes an image dividing unit that outputs data of at least a left cover image and a right cover image that are classified.

  In the first invention, for example, a scanner unit is attached to a book, and an image signal obtained by reading a book cover having a first side and a second side is processed to generate cover image data. The image processing apparatus extracts each partial image of the book cover from the cover image data. The character region detecting unit detects a character region in the cover image data, and the non-character region detecting unit is based on the character region detected by the character region detecting unit in the second side direction (for example, the vertical direction) in the cover image data. A non-character area in which no character exists from one end to the other end of is detected. The division position determination unit determines a division position at which the cover image should be divided into partial images based on the character region detected by the character region detection unit and the non-character region detected by the non-character region detection unit. In particular, the non-character area is a position that can be divided. The image dividing unit outputs data of at least the left cover image and the right cover image divided at the division position determined by the division position determining unit.

  According to the first aspect, since the division position of each partial image is determined based on the cover image, a necessary partial image can be surely taken out without a troublesome input operation by the user.

  The second invention is dependent on the first invention, and determines whether the book cover is a book cover of a vertically written book or a book cover of a horizontally written book based on the data of the left cover image and the right cover image And a data output unit that outputs one of the left cover image and the right cover image as a cover image based on the determination result by the cover and the cover determination unit.

  In the second invention, the cover determining unit detects, for example, the visible information displayed on the book cover to determine whether the book cover for vertical writing or the book cover for horizontal writing, and the data output unit It is possible to specify which partial image is the front cover according to the result.

  According to the second invention, the front cover image can be output correctly.

  A third invention is according to the second invention, wherein the cover determining unit further includes an identification code recognizing unit for recognizing a position of the identification code, and the data output unit is a left cover image in which the identification code is not recognized or a right cover image. An image processing apparatus that outputs a cover image as cover cover image data.

  A fourth invention is according to the second invention, wherein the cover determining unit further includes a classification code recognition unit for recognizing a position of the classification code, and the data output unit is a left cover image in which the classification code is not recognized or a right cover image. An image processing apparatus that outputs a cover image as cover cover image data.

  A fifth invention is according to the second invention, wherein the cover determining unit further includes a price display recognizing unit for recognizing a position of the price display, and the data output unit is a left cover image in which the price display is not recognized or the right cover image An image processing apparatus that outputs a cover image as cover cover image data.

  According to each of the third to fifth inventions, the cover determination unit recognizes the position of the identification code, the classification code, or the price display included in the cover image, so that the cover determination unit can make the book cover for vertical writing or the book for horizontal writing. The cover can be easily determined.

  The sixth invention is dependent on the second invention, the book includes a book text, and the cover determination unit determines whether the book is a horizontal book or a vertical book based on a text image of the book text. Device.

  In the sixth invention, for example, by determining the direction of characters included in the body image, it is determined whether the book is a horizontally written book or a vertically written book.

  According to the sixth aspect, since the text image is acquired, it is possible to reliably determine whether the book is a horizontally written book or a vertically written book in an image processing apparatus that converts a paper book into an electronic book.

  A seventh invention is dependent on any one of the first to sixth inventions, the character region detection unit detects a character region closest to the center in the first side direction in the cover image, and the division position determination unit further includes The spine cover split position determination unit which sets the position of the detected character area added with the margin as the spine cover split position, and the position obtained by adding the width of the book format to the spine cover split position as the cover split position An image processing apparatus including a cover division position determination unit.

  In the seventh invention, first, the division position of the back cover is determined, and based on the division position of the spine cover, based on the data indicated by the size according to the format of the book at that time, the front cover and the back cover The division position of is determined.

  According to the seventh aspect, the division positions of the partial images such as the front cover and the back cover can be accurately determined.

  An eighth invention is an image forming apparatus including the image processing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh inventions.

  A ninth invention is an image processing program that is attached to a book and that can be executed by a computer of an image processing apparatus that extracts each partial image of the book cover from cover image data obtained by reading a book cover having a first side and a second side In the image processing program, the computer detects a character area detecting unit that detects a character area in the cover image data, and no non-existent character exists from one end to the other end of the second side in the cover image data based on the character area. Based on the character region detected by the character region detection unit, the character region detected by the character region detection unit, and the non-character region detected by the non-character region detection unit, the division position at which the cover image should be divided into each partial image is determined. Division position determination unit to perform, and at least a left cover image and a right cover grouped by the division position determined by the division position determination unit To function as an image dividing section for outputting data of the image, an image processing program.

  According to the ninth aspect, the same effect as in the first aspect can be expected.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reliably acquire necessary images of each part of the book cover without troublesome operations by the user.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an illustrative view showing one example of a book cover targeted by the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 3 is an illustrative view showing another example of a book cover targeted by the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the cover image processing unit. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing the cover dividing unit in the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the cover dividing unit shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is an illustrative view showing a state in which the cover image is divided by the cover dividing unit. FIG. 8 is a graph showing an example of the ratio of the width of characters on the spine to the width of the spine. FIG. 9 is a table showing the difference in size depending on the size of the book. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a cover determination unit in the cover division unit of FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the cover determination unit shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram illustrating another example of the cover determination unit in the cover division unit of FIG. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing still another example of the cover determination unit in the cover division unit of FIG. FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing another embodiment of the cover image processing unit. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an example of a cover determination unit in the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 17 is an illustrative view schematically showing the shape of a book text, book cover, and belt. FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a cover determination unit. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the cover determination unit shown in FIG.

  With reference to FIG. 1, an example of an image forming apparatus to which each embodiment of the present invention can be applied will be described within a necessary range. FIG. 1 illustrates a multifunction peripheral (MFP) having a copying function, a printer function, a scanner function, a facsimile function, and the like. However, the present invention is applicable to an arbitrary image forming apparatus having one or more of these functions. It should be pointed out beforehand that it can be applied.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes a main body 12 and an image reading unit 14 disposed above the main body 12. The image reading unit 14 includes a document placing table 16 formed of a transparent material. A document pressing cover 18 is attached above the document placing table 16 through a hinge or the like so as to be freely opened and closed. The document holding cover 18 automatically feeds the document G placed on the document placing tray 20 one by one to the document reading position P1 where the image reading glass is disposed. 22 is provided. An operation unit (not shown) such as a touch panel and operation buttons for receiving an input operation by the user is provided on the front side of the document table 16.

  The image reading unit 14 includes, for example, a plurality of LEDs arranged in the main scanning direction (a direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 1) and is movable in the sub-scanning direction (a direction parallel to the paper surface of FIG. 1). 24, an imaging unit 28 including a mirror unit 26 that can move in the sub-scanning direction at a moving speed that is half the moving speed of the light source unit 24, an imaging lens, a line sensor, and the like.

  The image reading unit 14 forms a scanner unit, exposes the document surface by the light source unit 24, and guides reflected light reflected from the document surface to an imaging lens (not shown) of the imaging unit 28 by the mirror unit 26. Then, the reflected light is imaged on a light receiving element of a line sensor (not shown) by an imaging lens. The line sensor detects the luminance and chromaticity of the reflected light imaged on the light receiving element, and generates image data based on the image on the document surface. As the line sensor, a charge coupled device (CCD), a contact image sensor (CIS), or the like is used.

  The main body 12 is provided with a control unit 30 and an image forming unit 32. The control unit 30 includes necessary electronic circuits such as a computer (processor, CPU), an ASIC, a memory, and the like, and transmits a control signal to each part of the image forming apparatus 10 in response to an input operation to an operation unit such as a touch panel. Then, the image forming apparatus 10 is caused to execute various operations. However, in the embodiment described later, the preprocessing unit 52 and the cover image processing unit 54 (both of which are shown in FIG. 4) are configured by ASIC.

  As is well known, the image forming unit 32 includes a process unit 34 for each color, such as black (K), cyan (C), magenta (M), and yellow (Y), an intermediate transfer belt 36, a transfer roller 38, and A fixing device 40 is included. The process unit 34 includes a photosensitive drum 44 exposed by the exposure unit 42, a developing unit 46 that develops an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 44, and the like.

  In the image forming unit 32, an image is formed on the paper (recording paper) conveyed from the paper feed cassette 48 or the manual paper feed cassette 50 by the process unit 34 and the transfer roller 38, and the image-formed paper is ejected to the discharge tray (see FIG. (Not shown). As image data for forming an image on a sheet, image data read by the scanner unit or image reading unit 14, image data transmitted from an external computer, or the like is used. If necessary, a cover image can be printed in accordance with each partial image data of a book cover described later.

The control unit 30 of the image forming apparatus 10 of this embodiment scans the book cover CVR shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 with the scanner unit 14 to read the image (cover image), and the cover image is read from the book cover. Dividing into each part (front cover, back cover, spine cover, sleeve) of CVR, each partial image is taken out.
<First embodiment>
The book cover CVR shown in FIG. 2 is a vertically written book (a book in which text is written vertically from the top to the bottom in the book text). In the vertically written book cover CVR, a spine SP is sandwiched. The left side is a front cover FC, and the right side is a back cover BC. The ends of the front cover FC and the back cover BC are folded back to form a sleeve FL. In general, the back cover BC is provided with an identification code IC such as a barcode, a classification code CC such as an ISBN code, and a price display PR.

  The book cover CVR shown in FIG. 3 is a horizontally-written book (a book in which text is written horizontally from left to right in the book body). In the horizontally-written book cover CVR, the right side cover FC is sandwiched between the back cover SP. The left side is the back cover BC. The identification code IC, the classification code CC, and the price display PR are provided on the back cover BC as in the case of FIG.

  Each of the book cover of FIG. 2 and the book cover of FIG. 3 is formed such that the horizontal direction is the long side (first side) and the vertical direction intersecting (orthogonal) the long side is the short side (second side). Has been.

  When the book cover CVR as shown in FIG. 2 is placed on the document table 16 shown in FIG. 1 and the document reading unit, that is, the scanner unit 14 is operated, a cover image is displayed from the scanner unit 14 as shown in FIG. Output as RGB analog signals. However, in the following description, the word “RGB” is omitted unless particularly necessary.

  The analog signal of the cover image is input to the preprocessing unit 52. The pre-processing unit 52 includes an A / D conversion unit, a shading correction unit, a gradation conversion processing unit, etc., although none of them is shown. The A / D converter converts the analog signal of the cover image input from the scanner unit 14 into image data (cover image digital signal). The cover image data is subjected to a gradation conversion processing unit for γ correction processing or the like for each of RGB after the distortion generated in the illumination system, imaging system, and imaging system of the scanner unit 14 is removed by the shading correction unit. Tone conversion processing is performed and output as cover image data. The cover image data is input to the cover image processing unit 54 configured by ASIC as an example.

  The cover image processing unit 54 includes a cover dividing unit 56 and a cover determining unit 58. As described in detail later, the cover splitting unit 56 divides the cover image data into partial image data of the left cover, right cover, spine cover, and sleeve. The cover determination unit 58 determines whether the cover is a vertical book cover as shown in FIG. 2 or a horizontal book cover as shown in FIG. 3, and each of the front cover, the back cover, the back cover, and the sleeve is sent from the data output unit 60. The partial image data is output.

  Here, the cover division unit 56 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows a functional block diagram of the cover splitting unit 56, and FIG. 6 shows a flowchart showing its operation.

  The cover splitting unit 56 includes a character region detection unit 64 that detects a character region from the cover image, and a non-character region that detects a non-character region (a region in which no character exists) in the cover image using positional information of the detected character region. Based on the character region detected by the detection unit 66 and the character region detection unit 64 and the non-character region detected by the non-character region detection unit 66, a division position determination unit 68 that determines a position (division position) at which the cover image should be divided. And an image dividing unit 70 for outputting the left cover image, the right cover image, the back cover image, and the sleeve image data divided by the division positions determined by the division position determining unit 68.

  Referring to FIG. 6, in first step S <b> 1, cover sheet dividing unit 56 obtains pre-processing unit 52 (FIG. 4) cover image data. In step S3, the character region detection unit 64 detects a character region in the cover image based on the cover image data.

  An arbitrary method may be adopted to detect the character area, but in the first embodiment, as an example, a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-146185 related to the applicant's application is used.

  More specifically, first, it is determined for each pixel whether or not each pixel included in the first line extending in the sub-scanning direction in the cover image data is a black pixel, and a predetermined pixel is determined for each pixel determined to be a black pixel. Assign a label. Thereafter, for each line adjacent to the labeled line in the main scanning direction, it is determined for each pixel whether each pixel included in the line is a black pixel, and is determined to be a black pixel. A label different from the label used in the above-mentioned line that has been labeled is assigned to the selected pixel. Then, for each pixel determined to be a black pixel, it is determined whether the labeled pixel adjacent to the pixel is a black character. If it is determined to be a black character, It is determined that they are connected, and the label of the pixel is changed to the same label as the pixel of the adjacent labeled line (the same label as the label of the line one level above). Thereafter, the above process is repeated for each line arranged in the main scanning direction, and the pixels with the same label are extracted to extract characters.

  For example, it is assumed that the cover image data of the book cover CVR shown in FIG. 2 is input. In this case, at the stage where the detection of the character area in step S3 is completed, the area surrounded by the rectangle in FIG. 7A is detected as the character area. Then, the character region detection unit 64 sends the detected character region information (position, etc.) to the non-character region detection unit 66 as a character region signal.

  In step S5, the non-character area detection unit 66 obtains an area (non-character area) where no character area exists in the vertical direction in the cover image using a character area signal, that is, position information of the character area. In the cover image, an area in which no character area exists in the vertical direction is the vertical direction (short side (second side) of the cover image, as in the shaded areas C2, C4, C6, C8, and C10 in FIG. 7B. ) Direction) from the upper end (one end) to the lower end (the other end) where there is no character area (area between the circumscribed rectangles of the character). That is, the non-character area detection unit 66 determines whether each pixel is included in the character area in the horizontal direction (first side direction) of the cover image from the upper end to the lower end in the vertical direction (second side direction). Thus, a non-character area can be detected. However, the area in contact with both the left and right ends of the cover image is not a target because it cannot be a division position. The obtained information of the area where no character exists in the vertical direction is sent to the division position determining unit 68 as a non-character position signal.

  The division position determination unit 68 executes steps S7 to S19 to determine the positions for dividing the back cover and the left and right covers, and transmits the positions to the cover division unit 56 as a division position signal.

  First, in steps S7 to S11, the division position of the spine is obtained. Here, it is assumed that a broken line 72 shown in FIG. 7B is a center line indicating the center of the cover image in the horizontal direction (long side or first side direction).

  In step S7, a region having a character closest to the horizontal center line 72 of the cover image (here, “C5” shown in FIG. 7B) is obtained.

As a result of measuring a large number of books by the inventors in the experiment, it was found that there is a relationship as shown in FIG. 8 between the width of the characters on the spine and the width of the spine. Therefore, first, the width of the spine SP (FIG. 2) is calculated using Equation 1.
[Equation 1]
Back cover width = 0.92 × back cover character width + 9.33
In step S9, the width d of the margins on both sides of the characters on the spine cover SP is calculated from Formula 2 from the width of the spine cover SP estimated according to Formula 1 and the width of C5.

The spine cover width calculated previously in Equation 1 is a constant A (“0.92” indicating the slope of the graph of FIG. 8 in the first embodiment) for the width of the character (C5) closest to the center line 72. Furthermore, the value is obtained by adding a constant B (in the first embodiment, “9.33” indicating the initial value of the graph of FIG. 8). However, the unit of the constant B in Equation 1 is “mm”. Therefore, the width of the spine is larger than the width (C5) of the characters displayed on the spine. Therefore, in Equation 2, the character width is subtracted from the width of the spine cover estimated by calculation, and is divided into two equal parts to calculate the margin d on both sides of the character width of the spine cover.
[Equation 2]
d = (back cover width−back cover character width) ÷ 2
In step S11, the division position determination unit 68 determines a position obtained by adding the margin d to both sides of the character area C5 as a spine cover division position. However, when the calculation result of d according to Equation 2 is equal to or less than a predetermined length pmm (for example, p = 1), d = pmm (the number of pixels corresponding to pmm).

  Next, the division position determination unit 68 similarly obtains the vertical length of the cover image from the vertical pixel number and resolution (number of pixels per unit length) of the cover image in steps S13 and S15. From the table of FIG. 9 showing the size (short side × long side) of each size of the book, the format having the long side dimension closest to the vertical length of the cover image is examined, and the spine cover determined in step S11 is checked. A position shifted from the division position by the number of pixels corresponding to the length (short side dimension) of the other side of the format, that is, separated from the position of the spine cover by the short side length of the format of the book. The position is set as the division position of the left and right cover sheets and sleeves.

  For example, if the vertical length (the length of the long side in the table of FIG. 9) is the same (or similar), as in the case of a new book and B6, It is checked whether or not there is an area where the character exists (character area in step S3) at a position shifted by the number of pixels corresponding to the horizontal length (the length of the short side in the table of FIG. 9) from the cover. That is, in step S17, it is determined whether or not the division can be made at a position obtained by adding the format width (the length of the short side in the table of FIG. 9) to the spine cover division position.

  If “YES” in this step S17, a format corresponding to an area where no character is present is selected, and the spine cover and sleeve division positions are determined.

  However, in order to determine the division position of the sleeve, the length of the short side of the new book size and the B6 size in the above example is enlarged by a predetermined magnification (for example, 1.5 times), and the spine cover is divided. Select the position closer to the length including the cover and sleeves from the position, and the position shifted from the split position of the back cover by the number of pixels for the horizontal length of the selected format is set as the split position of the left and right cover sheets and sleeves You may do it.

  9 is stored in advance in a memory (not shown) so as to be accessible together with necessary setting data such as Equation 1 and Equation 2, for example.

  The division position signal representing these division positions is given to the image division unit 70 from the division position determination unit 68 in FIG. 5, that is, step S19 in FIG.

  In step S21, the image dividing unit 70 divides the cover image into a left cover image, a right cover image, a back cover image, and a sleeve image based on the division position signal, as shown in FIG. 7C.

  In addition, when all the candidate sizes do not have characters at the positions shifted by the number of pixels corresponding to the short side length of the book format from the division position of the spine cover (or all characters exist) Reports on the operation panel (not shown) that the user cannot determine the format (cannot determine the split position between the cover and the sleeve) so that the user can select the format (step S23). When the format is selected by the user in step S25, the process proceeds to step S19, where the division position determination unit 68 determines each division position and transmits the division position signal to the image division unit 70.

  In this first embodiment, since the division position is estimated from the character position and the format of the spine in the cover image, the division is performed without being affected by the left-right difference in the paper thickness of the book, the cover thickness, and the sleeve length. The position can be determined correctly and reliably.

  Each partial image divided by the cover division unit 56 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 62 as shown in FIG. However, the left and right cover images are also given to the cover determination unit 58 of FIG.

  Here, the cover determination unit 58 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 shows a functional block diagram of the cover determination unit 58.

  The cover determination unit 58 determines whether the cover image processed here is the vertical book cover shown in FIG. 2 or the horizontal book cover shown in FIG. 3, and displays the cover image on the left or right side of the cover image. A cover determination signal indicating whether there is a cover or back cover is transmitted.

  In the first embodiment, the cover determination unit 58 detects the position of the identification code IC (FIGS. 2 and 3) that is one of the visible information included in either the left or right cover image of the cover image. An identification code recognition unit 74 and a cover determination signal generation unit 76 that outputs a cover determination signal in accordance with the identification code position determination signal from the identification code recognition unit 74 are included. The operation of the cover determination unit 58 will be described below together with the flowchart of FIG. 11 showing the operation of the cover image processing including the cover determination unit 58.

  In both the vertical writing book cover shown in FIG. 2 and the horizontal writing book cover shown in FIG. 3, an identification code IC such as a barcode is displayed on the back cover BC. Therefore, the identification code recognition unit 74 determines whether the identification code IC is included in the left cover image or the right cover image, so that the currently processed cover image is shown in FIG. It is possible to determine whether the book cover is for vertical writing or the book cover for horizontal writing shown in FIG.

  The first step S31 in FIG. 11 indicates that the cover dividing unit 56 in FIG. 5 divides the cover image into each partial image according to the flowchart in FIG. 6. In step S33, the identification code recognition unit 74 Each data of the left cover image and the right cover image that has been divided is received, and an identification code is detected or identified.

  In step S33, any method can be used for the identification code recognition unit 74 to recognize the barcode. In the first embodiment, for example, the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-96059 is used. be able to. In this method, the entire image to be recognized is subjected to differential processing in the vertical and horizontal directions, the entire image after each differentiation is expanded, and then the reduction processing is performed, so that the remaining area is detected. An area that falls within a certain range relative to the size of the barcode area is recognized as a barcode area.

  When the identification code recognition unit 74 can recognize the barcode, that is, the identification code IC in this way, “YES” is determined in the step S35, and in the subsequent step S37, the identification code recognition unit 74 determines that the position of the identification code IC is It is determined whether the cover image is on the left or right from the center line 72 (FIG. 7B). If it is determined that the cover image is on the right side, the currently processed cover image is a book cover for horizontal writing (FIG. 3), and therefore “right” is sent to the cover determination signal generator 76 as the identification code position determination signal. If it is determined that the identification code IC is on the left side, since the cover image currently being processed is a book cover for vertical writing (FIG. 2), “left” is used as the identification code position determination signal for the cover determination signal generation unit. Send to 76.

  When the “right” identification code position determination signal is received, since the cover image is vertically written, the cover determination signal generation unit 76 sends the cover image to the left cover image with respect to the data output unit 60 (FIG. 4). A cover judgment signal to the effect is given. That is, “YES” is determined in the step S37.

  Therefore, in step S39, the data output unit 60 outputs the data of the left cover image among the partial image data read from the storage unit 62 as the data of the front cover image, and outputs the data of the right cover image as the back cover. Output as image data. However, the back cover image data and the sleeve image data are output as they are.

  When the “left” identification code position determination signal is received, the cover image is written horizontally, so the cover determination signal generation unit 76 notifies the data output unit 60 that the cover image is the right cover image. A judgment signal is given. That is, “NO” is determined in the step S37.

  Therefore, in step S41, the data output unit 60 outputs the right cover image data as the cover image data among the partial image data read from the storage unit 62, and the left cover image data as the back cover data. Output as image data. However, the back cover image data and the sleeve image data are output as they are.

  In other words, the data output unit 60 outputs one of the left cover image and the right cover image that has been able to detect the identification code IC as a back cover image, and outputs the identification code IC of the left cover image and the right cover image. The other that cannot be detected is output as a cover image.

  When outputting image data, the data output unit 60 rearranges and outputs the images in a predetermined order (for example, sleeve, front cover, back cover, back cover, sleeve order). Or you may make it shape and output to the format for electronic books (for example, EPUB or XMDF) by a user's instruction | indication. In that case, tag the front cover image or back cover image according to a predetermined format (for example, cover or front_cover_image for the front cover, spine_cover_image for the back cover, back_cover_image for the back cover, flap_image for the sleeve, etc.) It may be.

  However, when the identification code position cannot be detected, or when two or more identification code positions are detected, the determination impossible process is executed in step S43 (FIG. 11). For example, it may be displayed on the operation panel (not shown) that the front / back determination has failed, and the user can input which cover is left or right. When the user specifies that there is a cover on the right, the identification code recognition unit 74 selects “left” as the identification code position determination signal, and when the user specifies that there is a cover on the left, the identification code position determination signal. As “right” is transmitted to the cover determination signal generation unit.

  In the first embodiment, as described above, the sleeve images are not distinguished from the front side and the back side, but can also be distinguished. In this case, as with the front cover, the front cover image may be divided into a left sleeve image and a right sleeve image by the front cover dividing unit, and the front sleeve image and the back sleeve image may be determined and output in accordance with the cover determination signal. When outputting from the data output unit 60, for example, the front cover image, the front sleeve image, the back cover image, the back sleeve image, and the back cover image are rearranged and output.

  However, the image output from the data output unit 60 does not have to be all partial images. If a paper book is converted into an electronic book, in addition to image data of the book body, at least a cover image is displayed. Any cover image is sufficient. For this purpose, at least the right cover image and the left cover image may be output from the cover dividing unit 56. In this case, the data output unit 60 outputs at least the data of the front cover image in response to the cover determination signal from the cover determination unit 58. The back cover, back cover, and sleeve image data may not be required.

Further, in the first embodiment, the output from the cover dividing unit 56 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 62, and then the left cover image read from the storage unit 62 is output as a front cover image or a back cover image, and the right cover page is output. The image is output from the data output unit 60 as a back cover image or a front cover image. However, the storage unit 62 is not necessarily interposed, and the data output unit 60 is controlled by a cover determination signal from the cover determination unit 58. It is also possible to control so that each partial image from the front cover dividing unit 56 is directly output as a front cover image, a back cover image, or the like.
<Second embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the cover determination unit 58 determines whether the identification code IC such as a barcode attached to the book cover is in the left cover image or the right cover image, and the book It was determined whether the cover was for vertical writing (FIG. 2) or horizontal writing (FIG. 3).

  On the other hand, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the cover determination unit 58 includes a classification code recognition unit 78 that recognizes a classification code such as an ISBN code. This classification code recognition unit 78 recognizes, for example, the letters “ISBN” of the alphabet in the character areas recognized in step S3 in FIG. 6, for example. It is recognized as a classification code CC (FIGS. 2 and 3).

  If the classification code recognition unit 78 can recognize the classification code CC in this way, the classification code recognition unit 78 determines the position of the classification code CC in step S37 of FIG. 11 as in the case of the first embodiment. Is left or right from the center line 72 of the cover image (FIG. 7B). If it is determined that the cover image is on the left side, the currently processed cover image is a book cover for horizontal writing (FIG. 3), and therefore “left” is used as the classification code position determination signal to the cover determination signal generator 76 (FIG. 12). send. If it is determined that the classification code CC is on the right side, since the cover image currently being processed is a book cover for vertical writing (FIG. 2), “right” is used as the classification code position determination signal as the cover determination signal generation unit. Send to 76.

  Upon receipt of such a classification code position determination signal, the cover determination signal generator 76 controls the data output unit 60 to execute the operation of step S39 or S41 of the first embodiment. That is, when the classification code position determination signal indicates “left”, the right cover image data of the partial image data read from the storage unit 62 in step S39 is used as the cover image data from the data output unit 60. The left cover image data is output as back cover image data. When the classification code position determination signal indicates “right”, in step S41, the data output unit 60 converts the data of the left cover image from the partial image data read from the storage unit 62 to the data of the cover cover image. The right cover image data is output as back cover image data.

That is, the data output unit 60 can output one of the left cover image and the right cover image that can detect the classification code CC as a back cover image, and can detect the classification code CC of the left cover image and the right cover image. The other one that did not exist is output as a cover image.
<Third embodiment>
In the first embodiment, the cover determination unit 58 determines the position of the identification code IC, and in the second embodiment, the position of the classification code CC is determined so that the book cover at that time is used for vertical writing (FIG. 2). ) Or horizontal writing (FIG. 3).

  In contrast, in the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the cover determination unit 58 includes a price display recognition unit 80 for recognizing the price display PR. The price display recognizing unit 80 recognizes, for example, the symbol “¥” and / or the character “yen” in the character area recognized in step S3 of FIG. 6, for example. If it can be recognized, the character area is recognized as a price display PR (FIGS. 2 and 3).

  If the price display recognizing unit 80 can recognize the price display PR in this way, the price display recognizing unit 80 in step S37 of FIG. It is determined whether the position of the price display PR is on the left or the right from the center line 72 (FIG. 7B) of the cover image. If it is determined that the cover image is on the left side, the cover image currently being processed is a book cover for horizontal writing (FIG. 3), so “left” is used as the price display position determination signal to the cover determination signal generator 76 (FIG. 12). send. When it is determined that the price display PR is on the right side, since the cover image currently being processed is a book cover for vertical writing (FIG. 2), “right” is used as the price display position determination signal. Send to 76.

  Upon receipt of such a price display position determination signal, the cover determination signal generator 76 controls the data output unit 60 to execute the operation of step S39 or S41 of the first embodiment. That is, when the price display position determination signal indicates “left”, in step S39, the right cover image data of the partial image data read from the storage unit 62 is used as the cover image data from the data output unit 60. The left cover image data is output as back cover image data. When the classification code position determination signal indicates “right”, the left cover image data of the partial image data read from the storage unit 62 in step S41 is used as the cover image data from the data output unit 60. The right cover image data is output as back cover image data.

Therefore, the data output unit 60 can output one of the left cover image and the right cover image that can detect the price display PR as a back cover image, and can detect the price display PR of the left cover image and the right cover image. The other one that did not exist is output as a cover image.
<Fourth embodiment>
In the first to third embodiments, only the cover image is handled. However, the fourth embodiment is suitable for the case where a paper book is converted into an electronic book because the book text is also handled.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the cover image processing unit 54 of the fourth embodiment includes a data distribution unit 82 that receives image data from the scanner unit 14, that is, the preprocessing unit 52, and the data distribution unit 82 is a control unit 84. In accordance with the control, the cover image is given to the cover dividing unit 56, and the body image is given to the cover determining unit 58a. That is, the scanned image includes not only the cover image but also a body image obtained by reading the book body. In the fourth embodiment, the cover determination unit 58a uses the body image to cover the book image for vertical writing (see FIG. 2) It is determined whether it is a book cover for horizontal writing (FIG. 3).

  Since the other cover division unit 56, data output unit 60 and storage unit 62 are the same as the cover division unit 56, data output unit 60 and storage unit 62 (FIG. 4) in the first embodiment, they are duplicated here. The description to be omitted is omitted.

  In the fourth embodiment, although not shown, the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 10 (FIG. 1) is set to select a “book scan mode” for executing an electronic book as one of the menus. Yes. Therefore, when the book scan mode is selected by the user, “YES” is determined in the step S51 in FIG. 15, and the scanner unit 14 performs a cover scan in a step S53.

  When the book scan mode is selected, it is assumed that the scan is performed in two stages, that is, a cover scan for acquiring the image data of the cover and a text scan for acquiring the image data of the book text. After the user selects the book scan mode, a screen for instructing the user to set the book cover CVR shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 on the document feeder 22 (FIG. 1) is displayed on the operation panel. Is set in the document feeder and an OK button (not shown) is pressed, a cover scan for reading an image of the book cover is executed (step S53). Then, after the scanning of the book cover by the scanner unit 14 is completed, a screen for instructing the user to set the book text on the document feeder 22 (FIG. 1) is displayed on the operation panel. When the page is set in the document feeder and an OK button (not shown) is pressed, a body scan for reading an image of the book body is executed (step S55).

  Since the control unit 84 outputs a control signal and gives it to the data distribution unit 82 when the cover scan or the body scan is executed, the cover image data acquired as a result of the cover scan executed in step S53 is the data distribution unit. The body image data that is given to the cover division unit 56 through 82 and acquired as a result of the body scan executed in step S55 is input to the cover determination unit 58a through the data distribution unit 82. However, the text image data is separately stored and saved in a memory (not shown) for conversion into an electronic book.

  In the first to third embodiments, it is possible to acquire cover image data as a result of executing the book scan mode as shown in FIG. That is, the first to third embodiments can also be considered as a part of an image forming apparatus that can convert a paper book into an electronic book.

  The cover determination unit 58a determines whether the book is a vertically-written book or a horizontally-written book by determining the direction of characters included in the body image data input from the data distribution unit 82, and outputs a cover determination signal as data. This is given to the output unit 60.

  The cover determination unit 58a includes a character direction determination unit 86 as shown in FIG. The character direction determination unit 86 detects a character region included in the body image data in the same manner as the character region detection unit 64 (step S3 in FIG. 6) shown in FIG. That is, the character direction determination unit 86 extracts characters included in the image data after converting the body image data into low resolution data, obtains circumscribed rectangles of the respective characters, and calculates the distance between adjacent circumscribed rectangles. Then, based on the distance between the adjacent circumscribed rectangles, it is determined whether the character of the image data is vertical writing or horizontal writing. When the text is written horizontally, the distance between adjacent circumscribed rectangles is small in the horizontal direction (the short side direction of the text image) and large in the vertical direction (the long side direction of the text image). Conversely, when the text is written vertically, the distance between the circumscribed rectangles adjacent in the horizontal direction (the short side direction of the text image) is the distance between the circumscribed rectangles adjacent in the vertical direction (the long side direction of the text image). Bigger than

  In this way, in step S57, the character direction determination unit 86 determines whether the book is vertically written or horizontally written by comparing the vertical and horizontal distances between the circumscribed rectangles of adjacent characters. The character direction signal is sent to the cover determination signal generator 76.

  When the character direction signal indicates vertical writing, the cover determination signal generation unit 76 gives a cover determination signal to the data output unit 60 (FIG. 14) that the cover cover image is the left cover image. That is, “YES” is determined in the step S37 in FIG. When the character direction signal indicates horizontal writing, the cover determination signal generation unit 76 gives a cover determination signal to the data output unit 60 that the cover cover image is the right cover image. That is, step S37 data “NO” is determined.

Therefore, each partial image of the book cover divided by step S59 of FIG. 5, that is, the cover division unit 56, is output from the data output unit 60 in step S39 or step S41 as in the previous embodiment.
<Fifth embodiment>
In the fourth embodiment, the book cover scan and the book text are read separately in the book scan mode. However, if the automatic document feeder 22 (FIG. 1) is used, the book can be read simultaneously.

  Although it is possible to read the book text and the book cover at the same time, it is necessary to distinguish the data of the cover image and the text image in this case. In addition, a book may have a band in addition to a book cover. The band can be processed in the same manner as the book cover. However, when the book cover and the book text and the band are read simultaneously, it is necessary to distinguish the band from the two.

  FIG. 17A schematically shows a body image, FIG. 17B schematically shows a cover image, and FIG. 17C schematically shows a band image. There are various sizes of books, but there are differences in the ratio between the length and width of the book text, book cover, and belt. Here, as shown in FIG. 17, the shorter one of the height and width of the read image is called the short side, and the longer one is called the long side.

  FIG. 18 shows a cover determination unit 88 that reads a book cover, a book text, and a band collectively and automatically classifies them, and FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the operation thereof. The cover determination unit 88 functions only in the book scan mode described in the fourth embodiment, and does not perform processing in other modes.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the cover determination unit 88 includes an aspect ratio calculation unit 90 and a cover determination signal generation unit 92 that receive image data from the scanner unit 14, that is, the preprocessing unit 52.

  The aspect ratio calculation unit 90 acquires the length of the short side and the long side of the image data, and calculates the ratio R (= short side / long side) of the short side and the long side. The calculated value is sent to the cover determination signal generation unit 92 as an aspect ratio. The cover determination signal generation unit 92 determines whether the image data is a cover, a book body, or a band based on the aspect ratio, and the cover image processing unit 54 (FIGS. 4 and 14) serves as a cover determination signal. Send to.

  This will be described with reference to FIG. In the fifth embodiment, as described above, the automatic document feeder 22 is used to simultaneously read the text of the book, the cover, and the band, and the image data is acquired from the scanner unit 14, that is, the preprocessing unit 52 in step S61. In step S63, the aspect ratio calculation unit 90 extracts one piece of image data, and in the next step S65, the width and height of the extracted image are checked based on the image data, and the length of the short side and the long side is determined. And the aspect ratio R = short side / long side is calculated. The aspect ratio R is then sent to the cover determination signal generator 92.

  The cover determination signal generation unit 92 compares the received aspect ratio with a predetermined threshold value TH1 (eg, “0.31”) in step S67, and if the aspect ratio is smaller than the threshold value TH1, that is, “YES” in step S67. If "" is determined, it is determined in step S69 that the image data at that time is band image data, and the process proceeds to step S77. If the aspect ratio is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value TH1, it is determined as “NO” in step S67, and in the next step S71, it is compared with another predetermined threshold value TH2 (eg, “0.54”). If it is smaller than the threshold TH2, that is, if “YES” is determined in the step S71, it is determined in the step S73 that the image data at that time is the cover image data, and the process proceeds to the step S77. If the aspect ratio is greater than or equal to the threshold value TH2, it is determined in step S75 that the image data at that time is text image data, and the process proceeds to step S77.

  In step S77, it is determined whether or not all image data has been determined. If all the image data has not been determined, the process returns to step S63. On the other hand, when the determination of all the image data is completed, the operation of the cover determination unit 88 ends.

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, the cover determination unit 88 can determine whether the input image data is band image data, cover image data, or body image data. Even if the belt, the book cover, and the book text are scanned simultaneously, only the cover image can be surely taken out.

  Note that the cover image data output from the cover determination unit 88 may be given to the cover image processing unit 54 in FIGS. However, all the image data may be given to the cover image processing unit 54 shown in FIG. 14 together with the cover determination signal. In this case, if the data distribution unit 82 is controlled by the cover determination signal, the cover image data can be supplied to the cover division unit 56 and the body image data can be supplied to the cover determination unit 58a, that is, the character direction determination unit 86 (FIG. 16). .

  In each of the first to fifth embodiments described above, each functional block is described as being configured by an ASIC. However, they may be realized by software using a processor such as a CPU.

  That is, the image processing apparatus develops each function, for example, a CPU that executes the instructions of the program shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 6, 11, 15, and 19, a ROM that stores the program, and expands the program It is also possible to have a configuration including a storage device (recording medium) such as a RAM, a memory for storing the program, and various data.

  In this sense, the present invention provides a computer with a control program (image processing program) for an image processing apparatus, which is software that implements the functions described above, and program codes (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) for the program. The present invention is also applied to a recording medium recorded so as to be readable.

  However, such a recording medium (program medium) may be a memory (for example, ROM, RAM, etc.) provided in a computer, or a program reading device is provided as an external storage device and is inserted into the device. It may be a readable program medium. In any case, the stored program may be directly accessed and executed by the processor, or the program is downloaded to a program storage area (RAM or the like) of the computer and the program is executed. There may be. In this case, the download program is preferably stored in the main device in advance.

  Examples of the recording medium include tapes such as magnetic tapes and cassette tapes, magnetic disks such as floppy (registered trademark) disks / hard disks, and disks including optical disks such as CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R. Card system such as IC card, IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM (registered trademark) / flash ROM. By storing the program in a recording medium configured to be separable from the computer main body, the recording medium on which the image processing program of the present invention is recorded can be provided in a portable manner.

  Further, the image processing apparatus may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Further, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used.

  The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission. When downloading a program from a communication network, the download program may be stored in advance in an image processing apparatus or a computer, or may be installed from another recording medium.

  In addition, the present invention provides, for example, an image input device such as a flatbed scanner, a film scanner, and a digital camera, a computer in which various processes such as the image processing method described above are performed by loading a predetermined program, and computer processing results. It may be realized by a computer system including an image display device such as a CRT display or a liquid crystal display for display and a printer for outputting the processing result of the computer to paper or the like. Furthermore, a network card or a modem as a communication means for connecting to a server or the like via a network may be provided.

  Further, although all of the above-described embodiments have been described as the cover image processing apparatus in the image forming apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 1, the cover image from the scanner section does not have the image forming section 32 unlike the image forming apparatus 10. May be an image processing device that only divides the image into the partial images of the book cover.

  Specific numerical values and the like given in the above-described embodiments are examples, and can be appropriately changed according to actual products.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image forming apparatus 14 ... Image reading part (scanner part)
30, 84 ... control unit 54 ... cover image processing unit 56 ... cover sheet dividing unit 58, 58a ... cover sheet determining unit 60 ... data output unit 62 ... storage unit 64 ... character area detecting unit 66 ... non-character area detecting unit 68 ... dividing position Determination unit 70 ... Image division unit 72 ... Center line 74 ... Identification coat recognition unit 76 ... Cover determination signal generation unit 78 ... Classification code recognition unit 80 ... Price display recognition unit 82 ... Data distribution unit 86 ... Character direction determination unit 88 ... Cover Determination unit 90 ... Aspect ratio calculation unit 92 ... Cover determination signal generation unit

Claims (9)

An image processing device that is attached to a book and extracts each partial image of the book cover from cover image data obtained by reading a book cover having a first side and a second side,
A character area detector for detecting a character area in the cover image data;
A non-character area detection unit that detects a non-character area where no character exists from one end to the other end in the second side direction in the cover image data based on the character area;
A division position determination unit that determines a division position at which the cover image should be divided into partial images based on the character region detected by the character region detection unit and the non-character region detected by the non-character region detection unit; An image processing apparatus comprising: an image dividing unit that outputs data of at least a left cover image and a right cover image divided at a division position determined by a division position determination unit. A cover determination unit that determines whether the book cover is a book cover of a vertically written book or a book cover of a horizontally written book based on the data of the left cover image and the right cover image, and based on a determination result by the cover determination unit The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a data output unit that outputs one of the left cover image and the right cover image as a cover image.   The cover determination unit further includes an identification code recognition unit for recognizing the position of the identification code, and the data output unit outputs a left cover image or a right cover image in which the identification code is not recognized as cover page image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2.   The cover determination unit further includes a classification code recognition unit for recognizing the position of the classification code, and the data output unit outputs a left cover image or a right cover image in which the classification code is not recognized as cover cover image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2.   The cover determination unit further includes a price display recognition unit for recognizing a position of price display, and the data output unit outputs a left cover image or a right cover image in which the price display is not recognized as cover cover image data. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the book includes a book body, and the cover determination unit determines whether the book is a horizontally written book or a vertically written book based on a body image of the book body. The character region detection unit detects a character region closest to the center in the first side direction in the cover image, and the division position determination unit further displays a position obtained by adding a margin to the detected character region. 7. A spine cover division position determination unit as a division position, and a cover division position determination unit with a position obtained by adding a width of the book format to the division position of the spine cover as a cover division position. An image processing apparatus according to any one of the above.   An image forming apparatus comprising the image processing apparatus according to claim 1. An image processing program that is attached to a book and that can be executed by a computer of an image processing apparatus that extracts each partial image of the book cover from cover image data obtained by reading a book cover having a first side and a second side. The processing program causes the computer to
A character area detector for detecting a character area in the cover image data;
A non-character area detection unit that detects a non-character area in which no character exists from one end of the second side to the other end in the cover image data based on the character area;
A division position determination unit that determines a division position at which the cover image should be divided into partial images based on the character region detected by the character region detection unit and the non-character region detected by the non-character region detection unit; An image processing program that functions as an image dividing unit that outputs data of at least a left cover image and a right cover image divided at a division position determined by a division position determination unit.

Images