JP2578407B2 - Image recording device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention reads an original image and stores it in a storage unit.
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus that reads out image data stored in a storage unit and records an image corresponding to the image data on a sheet.

(Prior art)

With the advance of digital image processing technology in recent years, original images
A so-called digital copying system has been put into practical use, in which a solid-state image sensor such as D converts the digital image signal into a digital image signal, and performs copying with a printer such as a laser beam printer (LBP).

These systems are used not only as copiers because they handle digital image signals, but also as input / output devices such as digital facsimile and electronic file systems. General. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, such a digital copying system has an image generating device 1 for generating image data and a copying device 2 for receiving a digital image signal and printing out an image on paper or the like. Can be configured.

When a copying system as shown in FIG. 1 constitutes a system equivalent to a conventional analog copying machine, the image generating device 1 is an image reading device for converting an original image into a digital image signal, and the copying device 2 is an LBP. It can be configured as follows.

In this case, having the operation unit in both devices is costly, so only the image generating device 1 is attached,
The control mode is a master-slave configuration in which the image generating apparatus 1 issues an instruction such as a copying operation to the copying apparatus 2. Therefore, the image generating apparatus 1 must perform error control when an error such as a paper jam or a missing paper occurs in the copying apparatus 2, and control between the apparatuses becomes complicated. There is a disadvantage that the program becomes complicated.

In particular, when the copying apparatus 2 has a built-in sorting function for distributing the printing paper, the paper path through which the printing paper passes becomes long, so that a large number of printing papers exist inside the copying apparatus 2 at the same time. Therefore, very difficult control is required for the image sending device 1 to perform an accurate error recovery process when a paper jam occurs.

In order to improve the above-mentioned drawback, the copying apparatus 2 is provided with a page memory for storing digital image data, and the image data being printed is held until the timing at which it is recognized that copying has been completely performed. It is conceivable that the error processing such as the above is performed entirely by the copying apparatus 2 to reduce the load on the control program of the image generating apparatus 1.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the case of an image reading apparatus equipped with a document feeder that automatically conveys a document to a predetermined reading position, after the printing process of the copying apparatus 2 is completed, the next Since the original was fed, speeding up of image processing could not be expected,
There is a disadvantage that the merits cannot be used.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In view of the above, the present invention provides a document feeder that feeds a document to a reading position, and a reader that reads an image of a document fed by the document feeder. A storage unit capable of storing image data for a plurality of pages that stores image data representing an image read by the reading unit; a determination unit configured to determine whether there is a storable area in the storage unit; A recording unit that reads image data stored in a storage unit and records an image corresponding to the read image data on a sheet; a recording unit that can operate independently of the reading unit; a reading operation by the reading unit and the recording And control means for causing the recording means to perform the recording operation in parallel. When the determination means determines that there is a storable area, the control means performs the recording operation in parallel with the recording operation by the recording means. The next original is fed by the feeding unit, and the reading operation is performed by the reading unit. If the determining unit determines that there is no storable area, the reading unit waits for the next original reading operation. Reading the next document in a standby state in response to the determination unit determining that there is a storable area by performing the readability operation and the recording operation of the image data of the storage unit by the recording unit. An image recording apparatus is provided.

〔Example〕

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2A is a specific configuration example of an image processing system to which the present invention is applied. Reference numerals 3 and 4 surrounded by broken lines correspond to an image reading device and a recording device, respectively.

In the image reading apparatus 3 of FIG. 2A, an original 10 placed on an original platen glass 11 by an automatic document feeder (ADF) 22 is composed of a light source 13 and a contact type line image sensor 14. The reading operation of one line is sequentially performed in the unit 12 and converted into an electric signal. The optical unit 12 is moved in the sub-scanning direction
Perform 10 full readings.

The original image converted into an electric signal is sent to an image processing circuit 15 and subjected to image processing such as shading correction, and then is binarized and sent to an interface circuit (I / F) 18 as a digital image signal.

The control circuit 16 includes, for example, a micro computer, an operation unit 17 including a display circuit for performing various displays, a switch for giving an instruction of operation start and the like, an image processing circuit 15,
Automatic Document Feeder 22 (Automatic Document Feeder = ADF
), And at the same time, exchanges control-related information with the recording device 4 via the interface circuit 18. Therefore, the interface circuit 18
Serves to simultaneously transmit the digital image signal and the control information signal.

On the other hand, the recording device 4 receives a digital image signal and a control information signal from the image reading device 3 via the interface circuit 19, and the digital image signal is stored in the page memory 21.
In addition, the control information signals are connected to the control circuit 20, respectively.

The control circuit 20 uses a micro computer, for example, to control the operation of the LBP 23 and the like, switch the operation mode of the page memory 21, and control the entire image reading apparatus 3.

The page memory 21 is an image memory having a capacity sufficient to store image data for a plurality of pages of the maximum print size, and in this embodiment, stores a digital image signal transmitted from the image reading device 3. , A memory for reading and using an image stored during a printing operation after a printing process or an error recovery.

FIG. 2B is an example of a specific external view of the image reading device 3.

One or a plurality of originals placed on the original mounting table 35 are placed on the original glass and scanned one by one, with the surface read by the ADF 30 along the F direction of the illustrated original feed path facing downward.

Reference numerals 31 to 34 denote specific examples of the operation unit 17, including a reading start key 31 for inputting a document reading start, a ten key 32 for inputting a numerical value such as the number of prints, and the fact that image data can be input. And a display unit 34 for displaying an error message or the like.

Next, a specific operation will be described with reference to the flow charts of FIGS.

FIG. 3 is an example of a control flow chart of the control circuit 15 of the image reading device 3.

When the power is turned on, first, in step SP100, the image processing circuit 15, the operation unit 17, and the like are initialized.

In step SP109, the page memory 21 of the recording device 4
Is determined according to a storable signal from the recording device.

If there is an empty area, the storable display lamp 33 is turned on at step 111, and if there is no empty area, the storable display lamp 33 is turned off at step 110.

In step SP101, it is determined whether or not there is an instruction to start the image reading operation by looking at the key input of the operation unit 17. If there is an operation start instruction, step SP102
Proceed to.

At step SP102, the ADF 22 is selected and the state of the document to be read is determined, that is, whether or not the document can be used is determined. If the document can be used, the process proceeds to step SP122 to automatically feed the document.

In step SP103, the recording apparatus 2 is instructed about the number of copies to be made and the number of copies to be made.
In step SP104, the optical unit 12 is returned to the home position, scanning of the document is started, output of an image signal is instructed to the image processing circuit 15, and transmission of a digital image signal is started.

At step SP105, it is determined whether or not the reading operation of the document 10 has been completed normally. If an error has occurred, error processing is performed at step SP106.

In step SP107, the page memory 21 of the recording device 4 is set.
It is determined whether or not the digital image has been stored normally, and if an error occurs, error processing is performed in step SP108.

If the process proceeds to step SP106 or step SP108, an error message is displayed on the operation unit 17 because the digital image is not normally transmitted to the recording device 4, and after the error is removed, the original image reading operation is performed again. Need to be done.

On the other hand, in step SP107, the image is
If it is determined that the print data has been stored in the storage device 4 (that is, if the process proceeds to step SP113), all of the subsequent print operations are performed by the recording device 4.
Therefore, it is only necessary to wait until the printing operation is completed.

In step SP114, the document is discharged, and the process proceeds to step SP115.

In step SP115, it is determined whether or not there is a document to be read. If there is no document, step SP10 is executed.
Proceed to 9 to end a series of reading operations.

In step SP116, the same processing as in steps SP109 to SP111 is performed, and in order to feed the next original, step SP116 is executed.
Proceed to SP112.

Next, an example of a main control flow chart of the recording apparatus 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, when the power is turned on, first, a step is performed.
The SP 200 initializes the LBP 23, the page memory 21, and the like.

Next, the page memory is stored in steps SP201 to SP203.
A determination is made in 21 as to whether or not there is a vacant area in which at least one more page of image data can be stored, based on the address used in the page memory, and information is transferred to the image reading device 3 via a control information signal line. I do. The signal is transmitted to the control circuit 16 through the interface circuits 19 and 18, and the third
It is used as the determination information of step SP109 in the figure.

In step SP204, it is determined whether or not image data is input from the image reading device 3.

If image data has been input, the flow advances to step 205 to start the image forming task. The image forming task is a control program for storing an image for one input image data and performing a printing process, and a plurality of image forming tasks can operate at the same time. With such a program configuration, the operability when image input of a large number of originals is required is improved because the input operation of image data becomes possible without ending the previous print processing operation. Continue LB until the printer processing operation becomes possible
There is an effect that the use efficiency of P23 is improved.

Next, an example of a flow chart of the image forming task will be described with reference to FIG.

In step SP300, an empty area of the page memory 21 is secured to prepare for storage of image data and print processing.

In step SP301, the number of prints (= N) sent from the image reading device 3 is input.

In step SP302, the page memory 21 is set to a mode in which digital image data sent from the image reading device 3 is stored in the page memory 21 (= write mode).

At step SP303, it is determined whether or not the operation of writing the digital image data to the page memory 21 has been completed. If the operation has been completed, the process proceeds to step SP304.

At step SP304, the page memory 21 is set to a mode (= read mode) for reading digital image data stored from the page memory 21, and the process proceeds to step SP305.

In step SP305, it is determined whether or not the digital image data sent from the image reading device 3 has been normally stored in the page memory 21. If the digital image data is normal, the process proceeds to step SP306. Since it is necessary to input more digital image data,
Proceed to SP314.

At step SP306, it is determined whether or not the LBP 23 is usable. If the LBP 23 is usable, the process proceeds to step SP307.

In step SP317, an end determination for printing a plurality of sheets is performed. When the number of prints (= N) entered in step SP301 has been reached, the flow advances to step SP314 to complete the copying operation for the same image, delete the image data from the page memory 21, and leave that area empty. If not, the flow advances to step SP308 to instruct the LBP 23 to print one sheet using the digital image data stored in the page memory 21.

In steps SP309 and SP310, the occurrence of an error such as a paper jam or no paper is monitored until the printing operation of one sheet is completed. If it ends normally, step SP307
If an error occurs, the process proceeds to step SP311.

In step SP311, the signal (= ready signal) indicating whether the LBP 23 is ready for printing is turned off and the occurrence of an error is notified to the image reading device 3.

At step SP312, it is determined whether or not the error that has occurred has been eliminated. If the error is cleared, the ready signal which goes to step SP313 is turned on, and step SP3
Proceed to 07 and continue printing for the missing number.

In the present embodiment, for simplicity of explanation, the flow is as if the end of printing of the LBP23 is viewed one by one.
Although the chart is written, it is of course possible to control such that a plurality of print papers exist inside the LBP 23 at the same time in order to speed up the printing process. in this case,
Reprinting may be performed in consideration of the number of print sheets remaining inside the LBP 23 when an error occurs.

(Effect)

As described above, according to the present invention, a document feeding unit that feeds a document to a reading position, a reading unit that reads an image of a document fed by the document feeding unit, and a document that is read by the reading unit A storage unit capable of storing images of a plurality of pages for storing image data representing an image, a determination unit for determining whether there is a storable area in the storage unit, and reading out the image data stored in the storage unit Recording means for recording an image corresponding to the read image data on a sheet, and control means for performing a reading operation by the reading means and a recording operation by the recording means in parallel with the reading means. When it is determined that there is a storable area, the control unit causes the next original to be fed in parallel with the recording operation to perform the reading operation, and when it is determined that there is no storable area. Is the next manuscript The reading operation is made to stand by, and the reading operation of the next original in the standby state is started in response to the determination of the presence of the storable area by performing the reading operation and the recording operation of the image data in the storage means. It is possible to shorten the time required for the operator who has set the original document to complete the reading by minimizing the time required for the operation, and even if the reading operation is performed at a higher speed than the recording operation, the storage unit can store the original. When the available area is exhausted, the reading operation is not stopped but put into a standby state, so that the operator is troublesome and does not take time for the cover work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a block diagram of a processing system, FIG. 2 (a) is a block diagram showing a specific configuration example of a digital copying system, FIG. 2 (b) is an external view of an image reading device, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a control flow chart of the image reading device 3, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a main control flow chart of the recording device 4, and FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a flow chart of a forming task; 3 is an image reading device; 4 is a recording device; 10 is a document;

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An original feeding unit for feeding an original to a reading position; a reading unit for reading an image of the original fed by the original feeding unit; and image data representing an image read by the reading unit. Storage means capable of storing a plurality of pages of images, determination means for determining whether there is a storable area in the storage means, and reading out image data stored in the storage means. Recording an image corresponding to the image data on the sheet,
A recording unit that can operate independently of the reading unit; and a control unit that causes the reading operation by the reading unit and the recording operation by the recording unit to be performed in parallel. When it is determined that there is a storable area, the document is fed by the document feeding means in parallel with the recording operation by the recording means, and the reading operation is performed by the reading means. When it is determined that there is no available area, the reading operation of the next document by the reading unit is made to stand by, and the recording unit performs the reading operation and the recording operation of the image data of the storage unit. An image recording apparatus for starting a reading operation of a next document in a standby state in response to a determination that the document is present.