JP2019169858A - Image reading device - Google Patents

Abstract

To allow a user to easily identify a difference in setting in a plurality of image files generated when images of a single document are read in different conditions.SOLUTION: A control unit 10 stores two-dimensional image data in a storage unit 13 as an image file in a predetermined format every time the data is obtained by a document reading unit 11. In this case, a file name is given by the control unit 10. Here, the file name is formed by combining a main file name being information on characters that may form the file name and a setting identification code. The setting identification code is determined according to the details of parameter setting in the document reading unit 11, and "_" is used as a common header.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus that reads an image and generates data (image file) converted into an electronic file.

  A multifunction device having a printing function for forming and outputting an image on a sheet, and a scanner function for optically reading an image formed on a sheet (original) and generating image data (image file) converted into an electronic file (MFP: Multi Function Printer) is used. In the scanner function, when an original is optically scanned (scanned), an image is optically read using an image pickup device such as a CCD, and the read image has various formats such as JPEG, BMP, and TIFF. Is stored in a storage device (hard disk, non-volatile memory, etc.) in the multifunction peripheral. In general, the image file obtained in this way is often obtained for use by a device other than the multifunction device. For this reason, the image file can be read and used by a personal computer connected to the multifunction machine via a network, or an external device via a USB memory or the like.

  Such an image file is created and stored in the storage device every time a document is scanned. At this time, the name of the image file (file name) is given by the control unit of the multifunction machine so that there is no duplication. For example, as this name, a serial number corresponding to the order in which the image files are acquired in this multifunction device, a number corresponding to the date and time when the scan was performed, or the like is used. The extension of this file corresponds to the format of this image file. For example, if the image file is in JPEG format, it is “.JPEG” or the like.

  In addition, for example, in a personal computer or the like, various processing (image processing) may be performed on such an image file. In such a case, it may be necessary to generate and store a plurality of image files having the same original image file but different processing contents. In such a case, it is preferable that these plural image files are handled as belonging to a common group because the original image files are different but have different processing contents. In the technique described in Patent Document 1, in such a case, a file name that automatically makes it clear to the user that the processed image file belongs to a common group is automatically assigned to the processed image file. Is done. At this time, when a plurality of jobs to be subjected to image processing are executed, a number corresponding to the job execution order is added to the file name.

JP 2004-102600 A

  In the scanner function, for example, parameters are set for many items at the time of image reading, such as image color (color / monochrome) setting and resolution (dpi) setting. For this reason, after obtaining many image files by changing these parameters for the same document, the user visually checks the images of each image file using a personal computer and finds the optimal settings. Is often performed.

  In such a case, the plurality of image files before processing are also grouped together in the same manner as the technique described in Patent Document 1, and it is indicated that these image files are obtained by reading a common document. It is preferable to give a clear file name.

  If the technique described in Patent Document 1 is extended and applied to this case, the number used for identifying the image file is a number corresponding to the order in which the image file was obtained (scanned). In such a case, the user can easily recognize that the image file with such a file name is a common original read with different settings, but can recognize the difference in settings in each image file. Was difficult just from the file name. In order to recognize this difference, for example, it is necessary to write down the settings when the user acquires each image file.

  For this reason, it has been desired that the user can easily identify the difference in settings in a plurality of image files generated when images are read on a common document under different conditions.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a condition, and it aims at providing the technique which can solve the said subject.

The image reading apparatus of the present invention uses a document reading unit that optically reads an image in a document to generate an image file and a storage unit that stores the image file, and the image file can be accessed from an external device. In the document reading unit, a parameter for setting conditions for optically reading the image and generating the image file can be adjusted in the document reading unit, and the image file is the document reading unit. Control means for storing the image file in the storage means by including a setting identification code, which is character information corresponding to the setting of the parameter at the time of being generated, by a part of the file name of the image file It is characterized by doing.
The image reading apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the parameter can be adjusted in a plurality of items in the document reading means.
In the image reading apparatus of the present invention, in the document reading unit, the parameters that are in an initial state for each of the items are preset, and the control unit sets the settings for the items that are not changed from the initial state. The identification code is not included in a part of the file name.
In the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, when the operation of storing the image file in the storage unit is repeatedly performed in the document reading unit by changing the parameter in the item, the control unit newly When generating an image file and storing the image file in the storage unit, the setting identification code for the item having the same parameter as that when the image file stored immediately before is generated is the file It is not included as part of the name.
In the image reading apparatus of the present invention, when the document reading unit repeatedly performs the operation of changing the parameter in the item and storing the image file in the storage unit with respect to the same document, the image file is stored in the storage unit. The control means adds the setting identification code to a main file name which is character information set by a user or the control means, and stores a plurality of the image files stored in the storage means when the operation is performed. The file name is used.
In the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, the control unit sequentially adds the setting identification code after the main file name to obtain the file name.
In the image reading apparatus according to the present invention, the control means uses a common header as a leading character in all the setting identification codes used.

  With the above-described configuration, it is possible to easily identify a difference in setting in a plurality of image files generated when images are read on a common document under different conditions.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is an example of a flowchart showing an operation in the image reading apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The image reading apparatus 1 according to the embodiment is a multifunction machine and includes a document reading unit 11 that optically reads an image formed on a document (paper). In the document reading section (document reading means) 11, a moving frame body provided with a slit provided on the surface to be read in the document and having a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the scanning direction is used. A corresponding one-dimensional image is obtained with the movement (scanning) of the moving frame using a CCD or the like, whereby two-dimensional image data of the document is obtained. About this point, it is the same as that of what was described in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2013-183199, for example. In addition, a document transport unit 12 is provided that moves a document to be read from a location set by the user to an appropriate location in order to perform the above-described reading operation appropriately.

  The control unit 10 includes a CPU for controlling the above operation. Further, the control unit (control unit) 10 stores the two-dimensional image data obtained using the CCD or the like as described above in the storage unit (storage unit) 13 as an image file. Such an operation is controlled by the operation of the touch panel display 14 by the user. In addition, a network connection unit 15 serving as an interface for communicating with an external device (for example, a personal computer) via a network and an input / output unit 16 serving as an interface for connecting to an external device via a USB terminal are provided. Since the image reading apparatus 1 is a multifunction machine, the image reading apparatus 1 also has a function (printing function) for forming and outputting an image on paper, a facsimile function, and the like, but these functions are irrelevant to the present invention. In addition, in FIG. 1, description of the components related only to these is omitted.

  The control unit 10 causes the storage unit 13 to store the two-dimensional image data obtained by the document reading unit 11 as an image file in a predetermined format (JPEG, BMP, TIFF, etc.). This format is designated by the operation of the touch panel display 14 by the user. Further, the file name at this time is given by the control unit 10 as will be described later. Since the storage unit 13 is accessed from an external device via the network connection unit 15 and the input / output unit 16, this image file can be read from the external device. When a plurality of image files are stored in the storage unit 13, the user can identify these by the file names.

  In addition, when the document reading unit 11 generates the above image file (obtains a two-dimensional image), various parameter settings are performed. Examples of this parameter include selection of color (color / monochrome / grayscale), selection of image orientation (portrait / landscape), and setting of resolution (in dpi). These parameter settings are performed by operating the touch panel display 14, whereby the image quality and data capacity of the image file are determined, so that the user can appropriately set these according to the purpose of use of the image file. However, these parameters are set in advance as defaults (initial conditions), and when the user does not perform an operation for changing them, an image file is generated with the default settings. When the user operates the touch panel display 14 to select and change the parameter whose setting is to be changed, the changed parameter is newly set.

  Whether or not these settings in the generated image file are appropriate for the purpose of use is determined by, for example, the user importing the image file from the storage unit 13 to an external personal computer, and the user displaying the image file on the display of the personal computer. It is often performed after confirming the image by the image file. In such a case, a plurality of image files are created by driving the document reading unit 11 under a plurality of conditions in which the above parameter settings or combinations thereof are changed while the target document is placed on the document reading unit 11. It is preferable that the image data is stored in the storage unit 13 and all these image files are simultaneously taken into an external personal computer and compared there. Further, there is a case where the operation of acquiring image data again after further narrowing down the optimum condition may be performed.

  In such a case, it is essential to associate each image file with the parameter setting of the document reading unit 11 when the image file is obtained. At this time, the file name of the image file can be set by the control unit 10 so that there is no duplication, and the user generates the image file from the file name of the image file and the acquisition time in the file property. The order can be recognized. On the other hand, conventionally, the setting of the document reading unit 11 (parameters in each item) at this time is performed by, for example, noting in advance the parameters displayed on the touch panel display 14 when the document reading unit 11 is operated. I was aware.

  Here, in this image reading apparatus 1, in such a case, the control unit 10 gives a file name that reflects the above setting to each image file. Therefore, the user can recognize the above settings in the image file by recognizing the file name.

  The operation of the control unit 10 will be specifically described. Here, the file name is configured by combining the main file name, which is character information that can constitute the file name, and the setting identification code. As the extension corresponding to the file format, for example, “.JPEG” is used when the image file is in the JPEG format, “.BMP” is used in the bitmap format, and “.TIFF” is used in the TIFF format. The file format is selected by the touch panel display 14 in the same manner as before. In the following, it is assumed that “.JPEG” is used as the extension.

  As described above, when image files are continuously generated with a plurality of different settings for the same document, the main file names are common. The specific name of the main file name may be generated by the control unit 10 using, for example, date and time, or may be set by the user by operating the touch panel display 14. The fact that the plurality of image files are based on a common document can be recognized by the control unit 10 when the document reading unit 11 and the document transport unit 12 are not operated while these image files are generated. it can. In this case, the control unit 10 makes the main file name common to these image files. In the following example, it is assumed that the main file name is “sampledoc”.

  The setting identification code is determined according to the parameter setting content in the document reading unit 11, and “_” is used as a common header. In an actual multifunction device, parameters are set with more items. Here, for simplicity, it is assumed that these items are color settings, image orientation settings, and resolution settings. The above color settings are “color”, “black and white”, and “grayscale”, and the setting identification code corresponding to “color” is “_cl” and the setting identification code corresponding to “black and white”. Is “_bw” and the setting identification code corresponding to “grayscale” is “_gr”.

  In addition, there are two types of image orientation settings: “portrait” (vertical orientation) and “landscape” (horizontal orientation), and the setting identification code corresponding to “portrait” corresponds to “_port” and “landscape”. It is assumed that the setting identification code is “_land”. Here, it is assumed that there are three types of resolution settings of 200, 400, and 600 dpi, and the setting identification codes corresponding to each of these are “_200”, “_400”, and “_600”.

  The control unit 10 sets the file name assigned to the image file by adding the setting identification code to the main file name. However, if there is a default setting in these parameter settings as described above, it is sufficient to show only the items changed from the default. In the above example, it is assumed that the color setting is “black and white”, the image orientation setting is “portrait”, and the resolution setting is 200 dpi.

  In such a case, as an example, for the same document, the first time is “black and white”, “portrait”, 200 dpi (default setting), the second time is “color”, “portrait”, 200 dpi (default to color setting) 3rd is “color”, “landscape”, 200 dpi (color setting from default, image orientation is changed), 4th is “color”, “landscape”, 200 dpi (same as 3rd), A specific file name of the image file when the fifth time is “black and white”, “landscape”, and 400 dpi (change the paper orientation and resolution from the default) will be described below.

  Since the first parameter setting is the same as the default, it is not necessary to add a new setting identification code to the file name “sampledoc”, which is the main file name. The name is “sampledoc.JPEG”.

  The second parameter setting is different from the default in that the color setting is “color”. Therefore, a setting identification code “_cl” is assigned to the main file name, and the second file name is “sampledoc_cl”. .JPEG ".

  In the third parameter setting, since the color setting is “color” and the image orientation is “landscape”, which is different from the default, the setting identification code “_cl” for the main file name, “_Land” is assigned, and the third file name is “sampledoc_cl_land.JPEG”.

  Since the parameter setting for the fourth time is the same as that for the third time, the file name for the fourth time is the same as that for the third time and is “sampledoc_cl_land.JPEG”. Therefore, the image file is overwritten on the third image file, and the third image file is deleted. However, since these image files are generated by setting the same parameter for the same document, there is no problem due to this. However, when the control unit 10 recognizes that an image file with the same file name exists as described above, “(1)” is added as a new identifier, and the fourth file name is changed to “sampledoc_cl_land (1 ). "JPEG" can also prevent such overwriting. Alternatively, before storing the image file in the storage unit 13, the user may be warned via the touch panel display 14 that an image file with the same file name exists.

  The fifth parameter setting is different from the default in that the image orientation is “landscape” and the resolution is 400 dpi. Therefore, setting identification codes “_land” and “_400” are assigned to the main file name. The file name of the second time is “sampledoc_land_400.JPEG”.

  In the above case, eventually, four image files of “sampledoc.JPEG”, “sampledoc_cl.JPEG”, “sampledoc_cl_land.JPEG”, and “sampledoc_land_400.JPEG” (or further “sampledoc_cl.lJPEG”) are stored in the storage unit 13. 5) "is stored. The user can recognize the contents of parameter settings when obtaining each image file only by looking at the file names of these image files. At this time, the portion serving as the setting identification code can be recognized by “_” serving as the header.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit 10 from the acquisition of image data by the document reading unit 11 to the storage of the image file in the storage unit 13. This operation is performed every time the document reading unit 11 acquires two-dimensional image data (S1). In this case, this data is stored in a temporary memory other than the storage unit 13. Here, first, the main file name set by the user or the control unit 10 is recognized as the initial setting of the file name (S2). Thereafter, for each of a plurality of setting items, it is checked whether or not the parameter has been changed from the initial state (S3). If there is a change, the corresponding setting identification code is added to the end of the file name (S4). This operation is repeated for all items (S5). When all items have been checked, the image data is stored as an image file with this file name (S6).

  In the above example, the first setting is set to be the same as the default. However, when the image files are continuously generated, the first image file is generated without considering the default settings as described above. The default setting may be the default. In this case, the first file name always consists only of the main file name, and no setting identification code is assigned. On the other hand, in the second and subsequent file names, a setting identification code is given in the same manner as described above. In this case, when an image file is generated only once without continuously generating image files, the file name is always composed only of the main file name designated by the user. For this reason, when the image file is generated only once, the image reading apparatus 1 performs the same operation as that of the conventional image reading apparatus, and the above operation is performed only when the image file is continuously generated. Is done. When this method is applied in the above example, the first to fifth file names are the same as in the above case.

  In the above example, the setting identification code of the item changed from the default is given to each image file. Other methods can be used as a method of assigning the setting identification code. For example, when the image data acquisition is performed five times as described above, the setting identification code of the item changed from the previous image data acquisition is added instead of the item changed from the default. Also good.

  The file name of the image file in this case is the same as the above because the first time is the reference, and the first time is “sampledoc.JPEG”. The second time is “sampledoc_cl.JPEG”, and the third and fourth times. “Sampledoc_land.JPEG” and the fifth time becomes “sampledoc_bw_400.JPEG”. In this case, the user can more easily recognize the difference between a certain image file and the immediately preceding image file and the parameter setting.

  In addition, as described above, in the parameter settings, if there is no default setting or the default setting is unknown from the environment where there is an external personal computer, in each of the above cases, which item is It is preferable to clearly indicate whether the setting is made. For this purpose, it is preferable to add the settings for all the above three items to the file name as a setting identification code.

  In such a case, the file name of the image file is “sampledoc_bw_port_200.JPEG” the first time, “sampledoc_cl_port_200.JPEG” the second time, “sampledoc_cl_land_200.JPEG” the fourth time, Become. In this case, the parameter setting is always clear, but the file name becomes long, so that it is difficult for the user to distinguish when using this image file on a personal computer or the like. In the above example, three parameters are set. However, when there are many items, the file name is particularly long and it may be difficult to handle the image file.

  Therefore, especially when there are a large number of items for which parameters are set, setting identification codes may be added only for items that have changed from the default or only items that have changed since the last data acquisition. More preferable.

  In the above setting, the setting identification code is predetermined according to the item. At this time, it is preferable to set the setting identification code so that the same setting identification code does not exist in different items. For this purpose, the number of characters constituting the setting identification code is preferably 3 or more as described above. At this time, in the above example, “_” is used as the header of the setting identification code in order to clearly indicate the portion corresponding to the setting identification code in the character string constituting the file name. Accordingly, each setting identification code can be easily recognized in the file name in any case. As such a header, characters that are unlikely to be included in the main file name or prohibited from being used can be appropriately set.

  Alternatively, the user may be able to select a setting identification code to be given to the file name. If there are many parameter settings, the file name may be particularly long. In such a case, the file name can be made to the minimum necessary length by selecting only the information useful for the user from the information regarding the set parameters and reflecting it in the file name. For example, as described above, when there are three types of settings of “color”, “image orientation”, and “resolution”, information on color settings that can be recognized by the user simply by looking at the image If the user determines that the file name is unnecessary, the file name can be shortened by that amount without assigning the setting identification code for “color”.

  In the above example, the image file is read from the outside of the image reading device via a network or a USB memory. However, if the image reading device allows the user to identify the image file by the file name, The above configuration is effective.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image reading apparatus 10 Control part (control means)
11 Document reading unit (document reading means)
12 Document transport section 13 Storage section (storage means)
14 Touch Panel Display 15 Network Connection Unit 16 Input / Output Unit

Claims (7)

An image reading apparatus that uses an original reading unit that optically reads an image in an original to generate an image file and a storage unit that stores the image file, and the image file can be accessed from an external device. And
In the document reading means, a parameter for setting conditions for optically reading the image and generating the image file can be adjusted.
A setting identification code that is character information corresponding to the setting of the parameter when the image file is generated by the document reading unit is included in a part of the file name of the image file, and the image file is stored in the memory An image reading apparatus comprising control means for storing in the means.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the parameter can be adjusted in a plurality of items in the document reading unit. In the document reading unit, the parameters that are in an initial state in each of the items are set in advance,
The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit does not include the setting identification code for the item whose parameter is not changed from the initial state as part of the file name. In the document reading unit, when the parameter in the item is changed and the operation of storing the image file in the storage unit is repeatedly performed,
When the control unit generates the image file newly and stores the image file in the storage unit, the control unit has the same parameter as the item stored when the image file stored immediately before is generated. The image reading apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the setting identification code is not included in a part of the file name. In the document reading unit, when the parameter in the item is changed for the same document and the operation of storing the image file in the storage unit is repeatedly performed,
The control unit adds the setting identification code to a main file name that is character information set by a user or the control unit, and stores the plurality of image files stored in the storage unit when the operation is performed. The image reading apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the file name is the file name.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control unit sequentially adds the setting identification code after the main file name to obtain the file name.   The image reading apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit uses a common header as a leading character in all the setting identification codes used.

Images