JP2023018802A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image forming apparatus that can flexibly change the shape of a puzzle piece in response to a user's request.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus 100 comprises an operating unit 10, a reading unit 1, an image forming unit 4, and a control unit 60. The operating unit 10 has a touch panel 11. The reading unit 1 reads an image of a document G to generate image data. The image forming unit 4 forms the image of the document on a recording medium S based on the image data. The control unit 60 controls the operation of the operating unit 10, reading unit 1, and image forming unit 4. When the image of the document G includes a specific image, the control unit 60 controls to add, to the image of the document G, an image of a puzzle piece boundary according to a method for dividing the specific image designated by a user through the touch panel 11.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

The image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 creates a jigsaw puzzle by adding an image of a predetermined number of puzzle piece boundary lines to an image selected by a user. The control unit determines puzzle piece boundary lines by enlarging, reducing, rotating, or reversing basic piece blocks each composed of a plurality of puzzle pieces and combining them.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-202763

A problem with the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is that the shape of the puzzle piece cannot be flexibly changed according to the user's request.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of flexibly changing the shape of a puzzle piece according to a user's request.

An image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an operation section, a reading section, an image forming section, and a control section. The operation unit has a touch panel. The reading unit reads an image of a document and generates image data. The image forming section forms an image of the document on a recording medium based on the image data. The control section controls operations of the operation section, the reading section, and the image forming section. When the image of the document includes a specific image, the control unit adds an image of a puzzle piece boundary line according to the division method of the specific image specified by the user via the touch panel to the image of the document. control to

According to the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus capable of flexibly changing the shape of the puzzle pieces according to the user's request.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of an image forming apparatus; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus; FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of a control unit; FIG. 4 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 4; (a) and (b) are each a figure which shows an example of a piece shape.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

An image forming apparatus 100 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of an image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction machine having these functions. An embodiment in which the image forming apparatus 100 is a monochrome MFP will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 1 , image forming apparatus 100 includes reading section 1 , feeding section 2 , conveying section 3 , image forming section 4 , fixing section 5 , and discharging section 6 .

A reading unit 1 reads an image of a document G. FIG. The reading unit 1 generates image data from the read image. The feeding section 2 accommodates a plurality of sheets S and feeds the sheets S to the conveying section 3 . The sheet S is made of paper or synthetic resin, for example. The transport section 3 includes a plurality of pairs of transport rollers and transports the sheet S to the image forming section 4 . The sheet S corresponds to an example of a "recording medium".

The image forming unit 4 forms a toner image on the sheet S by electrophotography. The image forming section 4 includes a photosensitive drum, a charging device, an exposure device, a developing device, a replenishment device, a transfer device, a cleaning device, and a static elimination device. The toner image indicates an image of the document G, for example. The image of the document G is an image based on the image data generated by the reading unit 1 . The fixing section 5 heats and presses the toner image to fix the toner image onto the sheet S. As shown in FIG. The conveying portion 3 conveys the sheet S on which the toner image is fixed to the discharging portion 6 . The discharge unit 6 discharges the sheet S to the outside of the image forming apparatus 100 .

Next, the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the image forming apparatus 100 further includes an operation section 10 , a control section 60 and a storage section 70 .

The operation unit 10 is an input device for various user operations. Operation unit 10 includes touch panel 11 . The operation unit 10 may further include operation buttons. Information indicating the user's operation is supplied to the control unit 60 .

The storage unit 70 includes a storage device and stores data and computer programs. The storage unit 70 includes a main storage device such as a semiconductor memory and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive.

Control unit 60 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and controls each component of image forming apparatus 100 by executing a computer program stored in storage unit 70 . In particular, the control section 60 controls operations of the reading section 1 , the image forming section 4 and the operation section 10 .

Next, the operation of the control section 60 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. FIG. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the control section 60. As shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart following FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart following FIG.

Step S101: As shown in FIG. 3, the control section 60 determines whether or not the puzzle creation mode has been selected by the user's operation on the touch panel 11 . When the control unit 60 determines that the puzzle creation mode has been selected (Yes in step S101), the processing of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S103. When the control unit 60 determines that the puzzle creation mode is not selected (No in step S101), the processing of the control unit 60 ends.

Step S<b>103 : The user sets the manuscript G including the image to be made into a jigsaw puzzle on the reading section 1 . The control unit 60 controls the reading unit 1 so that the document G is scanned. The reading unit 1 sends the image data of the document G to the control unit 60 .

Step S<b>105 : The control unit 60 determines whether or not the division designation mode is selected by the user's operation on the touch panel 11 . When the control unit 60 determines that the division designation mode has been selected (Yes in step S105), the processing of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S117 (see FIG. 4). When the control unit 60 determines that the division designation mode is not selected (No in step S105), the processing of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S107.

Step S<b>107 : The control unit 60 allows the user to select the number of jigsaw puzzle pieces and the piece shape via the touch panel 11 .

6(a) and 6(b) are diagrams each showing an example of a piece shape. The piece shape exemplified in FIG. 6A is a general piece shape in which the top, bottom, left, and right sides of a square are rounded. The piece shape exemplified in FIG. 6(b) is a random piece shape as drawn appropriately freehand. The user selects a desired piece shape from among the presented piece shapes.

Step S109: The control unit 60 adds the image of the puzzle piece boundary line to the image of the document G according to the user's selection. The image of the document G to which the image of the puzzle piece boundary line is added is displayed on the touch panel 11 . When the process of step S109 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S111.

Step S111: The control section 60 allows the user to modify the puzzle piece boundaries. The user can freely move the puzzle piece boundaries on the touch panel 11 . When the process of step S111 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S113.

Step S<b>113 : The control unit 60 analyzes and learns the contents of correction by the user with AI (artificial intelligence), and accumulates the learning result in the storage unit 70 . By having the image forming apparatus 100 learn the preferences of each user, the user's workload due to manual input can be reduced. When the process of step S113 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S115.

Step S115: The control unit 60 causes the image forming unit 4 to print the confirmed jigsaw puzzle image. When the process of step S115 is completed, the process of the control section 60 ends.

Step S117: After confirming that the division designation mode has been selected, the control unit 60 selects an image of a person, an animal, or a vehicle in the image of the document G as shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not the specific image is included. If the specific image is detected (Yes in step S117), the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S119. If the specific image is not detected (No in step S117), the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S121.

Step S119: The control unit 60 allows the user to designate a division method for confirmation items prepared in advance via the touch panel 11, and adds the image of the puzzle piece boundary line to the image of the document G according to the user's designation.

For example, when an image of a person including a character is detected, the user is presented with confirmation items such as whether the face can be split and whether the body can be split. In particular, when an image of a human face is detected, whether or not each part such as the eyes, nose, and mouth can be divided is a check item.

Even when an image of an animal is detected, the user is presented with confirmation items such as whether the face can be divided and whether the body can be divided. For example, in the case of a giraffe, whether or not it can be divided into three parts from the neck to the top, from the neck to the body half, and from the body half to the tail is a check item.

When an image of a vehicle is detected, confirmation items such as whether the vehicle itself can be divided and whether parts of the vehicle can be divided are presented to the user. For example, in the case of a fire truck, the confirmation item is whether or not characteristic parts such as the body, tires, ladder, and hose can be separated.

Step S<b>121 : The control unit 60 determines whether or not the special shape designation mode is selected by the user's operation on the touch panel 11 . When the user selects the special shape designation mode, the user selects a desired special shape piece from special shape pieces having special shape outlines such as animal outlines and car outlines prepared in advance by the control unit 60. Further selection is possible. When the control unit 60 determines that the special shape designation mode is selected (Yes in step S121), the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S123. When the controller 60 determines that the special shape designation mode is not selected (No in step S121), the process of the controller 60 proceeds to step S127 (see FIG. 5).

Step S<b>123 : The control unit 60 allows the user to specify the number or ratio of special-shaped pieces via the touch panel 11 . If the image of the document G includes image portions such as the sky, the sea, and the desert where there is no difference between the pieces, the control unit 60 preferentially assigns special-shaped pieces to the image portions, and notifies the user. You may be prompted to confirm assignments. When the process of step S123 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S125.

Step S125: In accordance with the user's designation, the control unit 60 determines an image of the puzzle piece boundary so as to include the image of the boundary of the special-shaped piece selected by the user via the touch panel 11, and then determines the image of the puzzle piece boundary. The image is added to the image of the document G. When the process of step S125 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S127 (see FIG. 5).

Step S127: As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 60 proposes to the user several puzzle plans with the number of pieces corresponding to the difficulty level, and allows the user to specify the desired puzzle. The user may specify a puzzle plan with a large number of pieces and a high difficulty level, or may specify a puzzle plan with a small number of pieces and a low difficulty level. The puzzle piece boundary image changes according to the specified number of pieces. When the process of step S127 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S129.

Step S<b>129 : The control unit 60 analyzes and learns the contents specified by the user in steps S<b>119 , S<b>123 , and S<b>127 , and accumulates the learning results in the storage unit 70 . By having the image forming apparatus 100 learn the preferences of each user, the user's workload due to manual input can be reduced. When the process of step S129 is completed, the process of the control unit 60 proceeds to step S131.

Step S131: The control unit 60 causes the image forming unit 4 to print the confirmed jigsaw puzzle image. When the process of step S131 is completed, the process of the control section 60 ends.

In steps S115 and S131, the control unit 60 may further print only the image of the puzzle piece boundary line on the new sheet S instead of the puzzle board. At that time, if a mechanism is provided to push the sheet S along the puzzle piece boundaries with a roller, a more preferable puzzle mount can be discharged.

According to the embodiment, there is provided an image forming apparatus 100 that can flexibly change the shape of the puzzle pieces according to the user's request. In other words, since the variation of puzzle piece creation increases compared to the past, user satisfaction can be expected to improve.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various aspects without departing from the gist of the present invention. Further, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all components shown in the embodiments. In order to facilitate understanding, the drawings mainly show each component schematically, and the number of each component shown in the figure may differ from the actual number for convenience of drawing preparation. Also, each component shown in the above embodiment is an example and is not particularly limited, and various modifications are possible within a range that does not substantially deviate from the effects of the present invention.

Although the image forming apparatus 100 is of the electrophotographic type in the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 may be an inkjet system.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used in the field of image forming apparatuses.

1 reading unit 4 image forming unit 10 operating unit 11 touch panel 60 control unit 100 image forming apparatus G document S sheet (recording medium)

Claims (4)

an operation unit having a touch panel;
a reading unit that reads an image of a document and generates image data;
an image forming unit that forms an image of the document on a recording medium based on the image data;
a control unit that controls operations of the operation unit, the reading unit, and the image forming unit;
with
When the image of the document includes a specific image, the control unit adds an image of a puzzle piece boundary line according to the division method of the specific image specified by the user via the touch panel to the image of the document. An image forming apparatus that controls to 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said specific image includes any one of an image of a person, an image of an animal, and an image of a vehicle. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control unit analyzes and learns designation by said user. 4. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit determines the image of the puzzle piece boundary so as to include the image of the boundary of the special-shaped piece selected by the user via the touch panel. The image forming apparatus according to .

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